Trip to the East
by Hee-Haa
Summary: Ed and Al are told about a mass murder and have to help some girls to stop scar before he murders their family too. They run into new friends and old enemies and might even fall in love as they venture to East city  EDxOC, ALxOC, RUSSELLxOC PLEASE review
1. Conflict

"Damn it!" Ed yelled, his automail arm glinted in the sunlight that shone through the trees.

"I'm sorry Edward but I can't let you go after him until the girls show up." Roy replied calmly. Ed clapped his hands and transmuted his automail arm into a blade and pointed to it

"You see this" he said "this is what I'm gonna use to decapitate you if you piss me off any further!" Roy took a step back

"Calm down Fullmetal, don't get all short tempered." This is where Ed drew the line, he knew Roy said that purposely. Ed ran forward, his eyes raging with anger; he threw a punch at Roy and yelled

"Don't call me small or I'll kick your ass from here to Resembool!" Roy staggered backwards and noticed Alphonse on the other side of the court outside the military HQ and yelled

"Alphonse! Come here and restrain your brother before he kills me!" Al saw what was going on and sighed

"Brother, not again." And ran over to stop Ed from beating the crap out of Roy, he was about to restrain Ed but stopped himself and said

"On second thought, I think I might let Ed beat you stupid....-er this time..." After about 5 minutes of this, Ed grew tired of beating up Mustang and sat down where he was. As Roy staggered over to him he said

"Just tell me one thing."

"Yeah?"

"Why am i your personal punching bag?" Ed took his time thinking about it and said

"Because you're a bastard who-" Al cut him off but saying with a sigh

"Brother, don't go any further."

"Why?"

"Because you know what'll happen if you do." Al pointed over to Roy who by now was about to snap his fingers in Ed's direction, a smug grin across his face. But, Ed just sat there, completely oblivious as to what's going on. Al rolled his eyes

"As usual you are clueless brother." Ed turned

"wha-?"

"Mustang. Behind you. Now."

Ed took a while to realise what Al had said... and then he got it. Just as Roy clicked Ed bolted for it, just dodging the flame that followed closely behind Ed for about 100 metres

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"I'm gonna kick your sorry ass when you get back!"

"not if I can help it!" Ed yelled as he ran.


	2. The deliverance of bad news

"Sir, she's here." Riza said as she walked through the door to Roy's office.

"Well then, where is she?"Roy said. Riza peered down the hallway behind her

"Heather! Hurry up."

"Uh, sorry." A girl that had curly brunette hair and wasn't that tall hurried down the hallway. She walked into Roy's office and looked at everyone; Havoc, Mustang, Hawkeye, Fury, Breda, Hughes and Black Hayate. "KAWAII!" Heather said when she saw Black Hayate.

"Heather." Roy said trying to divert her attention from Black Hayate to him "Has anyone told you why you're here?"

"Actually no, no one has and I am really confused about this to be honest."

"Ok, the reason you're here is because there has been a mass murder."

"A WHAT?!" Heather's eyes widened in horror

"We suspect that it was Scar, considering the fact that the way their blood was slattered around and the amount of damage done to their heads AND there was no sign of any weapons anywhere."

"Makes sense. But, why did you ask for me?"

"Because we know you have access to documents about Scar. Documents that we're not supposed to know about."

"Well then, how do you know about them? You're starting to sound like a stalker to me..." Heather looked at Roy, now curious to know how he knows so much as her name. "Will there be anyone helping me?" She was starting to catch on.

"Yes, they should arrive soon."

A couple of minutes later two boys that looked around Heather's age walked in. One was sort of short, around Heather's height... (If not, taller). He had blonde hair and golden eyes (which by the way were gorgeous!) Something about him caught her attention; his right arm was made out of metal. This also made her curious, even more curious than she was about Roy knowing so much about her. The second boy was taller. He had sandy-blonde hair and green eyes. They both walked up to Heather and the shorter one held out his human hand.

"Hi, I'm Edward Elric and this is my younger brother Alphonse." He said with a smile.

"Hi, I'm Heather." She said as she took Ed's hand to shake it. "But, if he is your younger brother then why is he taller?" Ed was purely ticked off by this question but tried to hide it just this once for Heather's sake. She knew how he felt.

"Don't worry, everyone in my family towers over me... regardless of whether they're older or younger than me" She was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of a mocking voice.

"CHIBI!" Heather spun around only to find her friend standing in the door way.

"You can't talk Britt, you're shorter than me." Heather teased back.

"ONLY BY A COUPLE OF CENTIMETRES!"

"Yes, it may only be a couple of centimetres but i am still taller." Heather said as she pushed her hair out of her eyes and grinned. "Uh Britt, this is Edward and Alphonse Elric." She said, still grinning about the fact that she was finally taller than someone (even if it may only be by 2 or 3 centimetres). Britt held out her hand and Al shook it, Britt went a little red at this. Roy stood up and leaned on his desk

"Right, now that we're all here i can tell you what we called you here for." He said. Everyone listened intently "There has been a mass murder just west of East City and we suspect that it is Scar. We need you four to figure out why he decided to kill these certain people, locate where he is and stop him." Ed asked the same question that Heather asked earlier:

"But, why us?"

"Well, Heather has access to reports and other important documents about Scar and she lives Fairly close to where the mass murder took place.'

'how the hell does he know so much?' Heather thought. Roy continued

"Britt knows quite a lot about Ishval and could also have some information about Scar and also lives close to where the mass murder happened, Ed, you're the Fullmetal Alchemist (that should pretty much explain it all) and you know what Scar can do if you're not careful, and Al is your brother, of course he is gonna want to help you and share his knowledge of recent events involving Scar."

"Which direction is he heading in?" Al asked.

"He is now heading towards East City."

Heather and Britt's eyes widened with fear. Al and Ed turned to face the girls

"What's wrong?" Ed asked

"East City is where we live." Heather said, unable to move from the terror that filled her body "And if Scar gets to my family we will have nowhere else to go..." her voice trembled as she said this. Al seemed confused by this.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?"

"Britt lives with me, my mum and my brother."

"What happened to her family?"

"I don't know where they've gone..." Britt interrupted "they disappeared 8 years ago."

"Just after I escaped my dad." Heather said. Ed and Al looked at each other.

"What do you mean by escaped?" Ed asked, the boys' curiosity growing.

"My dad was a criminal let's just say... her voice filled with disappointment, "about a month after we escaped him and moved to East City Britt turned up at the door crying asking if we knew where her family was." Heather and Britt looked at the floor, not wanting to see the shocked, sad expressionsof the people standing around them.

"So did you ever find your family Britt?" Fury asked

"No..."

"So you don't even know if they're dead or alive."

"Yeah."

"It must be hard for the both of you." Riza said in a comforting way.

"Yeah it is. Sometimes we just need a good cry but, not one tear will come to our eyes when we want it to." Heather replied, still looking at the floor she continued "We only end up angry and overwhelmed, and then we bottle up our emotions and they all flow out at worst possible time." Heather looked up, her eyes filling up with tears, she looked around the room and everyone was staring at her. Trying so hard to hold back the tears of pain and sorrow, she ran out of the room and down the hallway.

Heather burst out side and sat under a tree, her tears overflowing and pouring down her face. The memories of her father still tormenting her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, She looked up and saw Ed. He sat down beside her and she ended up crying into his shoulder.

"It's gonna be ok." Ed said, pushing a brunette curl out of Heather's face when she looked up. When Heather stopped crying she said

"You know something; Britt has gone through just as bad as me and not once have in seen her cry."

"yeah." Ed said, unsure of what to say. He helped Heather up and said "C'mon, we best get back inside."

Ed and Heather walked into Roy's office, not expecting him to say

"Where'd you go Short-ass? We were starting to get worried." Heather was truly enraged by this nickname he gave her and replied

"None of your business Man-whore, I don't need you knowing every move I make!" Now Roy was enraged and it was showing in his eyes.

"Don't you dare get all pissy at me; I already have enough to deal with." Heather said as she glared at him. Roy took a deep breath and said

"you're right, you guys had better get on your way if you want to catch Scar." Ed, Al, Britt and Heather turned around and walked out of the office. When they were halfway down the hallway Britt turned to Heather and said

"Thank god you came back when you did."

"Why?"

"He was trying to tell us about various dates that he had been on."

"Oh, I told you that he was a man-whore."

"yeah well, you didn't have to call him one."

"Hey, he called me short, he was asking for it and if he wants to get all pissy at me then that's his problem."

The girls heard a chuckle, it was the boys.

"What?"

"You girls are so mean to Mustang." Al said

"Well, he sounds like he is stalking us though." Britt said. They reached the front door only to find Ross and Brosh waiting for them

"We are here to escort you four to the train station." Ross said

"Ok then, let's go." Britt replied.


	3. Meeting new friends and old enemies

The six jumped out of the car once they reached the station. Ross and Brosh turned to face the four teenagers and saluted them.

"This is it, from here the train will go as far as Dublith and from there you're gonna have to find another way to East City." Ross said.

"Well, we'd better get on the train before it leaves." Said Heather.

"That could be an idea." Said Britt teasingly.

"Shut up."

"Make me." The boys laughed as the girls argued.

"Come on." Said Ed "let's go." The four thanked Ross and Brosh and ran towards the train, just making it on before it left.

On their way to Dublith, the four stopped off at a small town about halfway to have lunch. They went to a small, but nice restaurant and talked for a while. Al turned to Heather and randomly asked her

"What do you want to do in future?"

"I want to be an engineer." She replied with a smile.

"What about you Britt?"

"I want to teach alchemy." They finished their food and left. When they got outside Heather turned to Ed, Al and Britt and said

"I know someone who lives around here that might be able to help us."

"Help us how?" Ed asked

"Help us find Scar; she is pretty good at tracking people down."

"Does Roy know about her?"

"I hope not, I am still confused about how he even knew me."

"I swear that man has nothing better to do other than stalk people to give him something to entertain him."

"Damn straight." Britt and Al looked at Heather and Ed and Britt said

"Geez you guys are so mean to the colonel."

"I know." They replied in unison.

On their way back to the train station they stopped outside a house and Heather called out

"Hey Bec! Get your ass out here now!" A voice replied from inside but no one could make out what it said.

"What?" Heather yelled back. A rather tall girl walked outside and looked at the four and said

"I said, just a second, i have to finish some housework, bitch."

"Well excuse me for needing your help."

"I know, I know. So where is Scar heading to?"

"East City, but we have to get there as soon as possible." The five ran down to the station and got on the train. Once they were on the train Ed turned to Bec and asked

"How do you know about the mass murder?"

"It's all over the news papers." She said looking out of the window.

As the train bolted across the country side the five teenagers sat there, bored as all hell... with nothing to do. Ed was falling asleep on Al's shoulder and heard him say

"Oh brother, we're almost there, don't fall asleep."

"But I'm tired." Ed mumbled back. Ed was jolted awake by the train coming to a sudden halt.

"Where are we?" Bec asked.

"Dublith." Heather replied standing up. The five got off the train and looked around

"So where do we go from here?" Britt asked looking quite confused. Heather spun around to face Britt

"Do you remember Katie?" She said, it took a while for Britt to remember and the it clicked.

"Oh yeah." She said "But why?"

"Katie has a few documents on Ishval, maybe we would be able to read them, it could tell us about Scar and why he is after all of these innocent people."

"Eh?" Bec said, really confused by all this.

"Just follow us, Katie lives around here." Heather said. Heather and Britt led the way.

"It's getting dark." Said Al "How much further?"

"Almost there." Heather said. They came to a stop outside a small house.

"This is it."Heather said as she opened the gate, she turned around only to find the other four with blank expressions on their faces.

"You coming?"

"Hang on, are you sure she will let all five of us stay here over night?" Asked Bec.

"Yeah, this is Katie we're talking about, of course she will.'

"True..." Bec replied. Heather walked up to the front door and knocked, but there was no answer. She knocked again, but still no answer. She heard a crash and a scream inside the house and panicked.

"Holy crap! What was that?"Ed and Al jumped in front of her and forced open the door.

"What's going on?" Britt yelled as she pushed past the boys and ran into the house. Al followed closely behind Britt as they searched the living room. Ed and Heather searched the kitchen and Bec looked in the bedroom and guest room.

"I FOUND HER!" Britt yelled, loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. Heather, Ed and Bec ran into the living room only to find Katie backing onto a corner as Al and Britt were about to fight Lust and Gluttony.

"Long time, no see Al." Lust said. "I see you have gotten your body back."

"Ooh, tasty looking people, can I eat them Lust?" Gluttony said, licking his lips as he stepped forward.

"I won't let you!" Said Al. Gluttony lunged forward, drool dripping from his mouth.

"EWW." Heather and Katie said when they saw this.

"What is that thing?" Katie said, still in shock.

"They're homunculi, artificially made humans." Heather lead Katie out of the room and into the hallway.

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later, you stay here and _don't move._" Heather ran back into the living room. Katie waited for it all to be over. The minutes seemed like hours, she couldn't bare to wait any longer, only able to hear yelling and screaming and crashing, she burst back into the living room. The first thing she saw was terrifying; Lust had her long, sharp fingernails held to Heather's throat, Gluttony had Britt in his grasp about to devour her alive. Ed transmuted his automail arm into a blade and came after Lust. Lust, out of natural instinct flinched away as Ed threw punches at her left, right and centre, hitting her almost every time.

Al came after Gluttony, forcing Britt out of his grasp. Britt struggled out of Gluttony's meaty hands as much as she could, taking as much energy as she could muster. Al finally got Britt out of Gluttony's grasp and Britt and Al stood back as Ed started attacking him. Bec decided to help finish the two homunculi off and dragged them outside when the fell unconscious. They dragged them down the road and left them there.

"Why are we just leaving them here?" Bec asked. Ed kept walking back down the road.

"Don't worry; once they wake up they would've forgotten why they came and go straight back home."

"K-then..." Bec doubted it a little but she knew she could trust Ed on this, he knew more about this sort of stuff.

"Anyway, now that the drama is over with, Hello Heather, Britt... and friends." Katie said.

"Oh, this is Ed, Al and Bec." Heather said as she realised that Katie had never met them before. Katie smiled.

"So, what are you doing here? I thought you were called to central."

"Yeah, we were, we found out that there has been a mass murder and Scar is heading to East. We are hoping that we could borrow those documents about him."

"That and we need somewhere to stay for the night." Britt added.

"Sure, you can stay here tonight, um, girls you sleep out here and boys you can sleep in the guest room."

Later that night Ed and Al were lying on their beds in the guest room.

"You know what Al?"

"What?"

"I reckon Britt has the hots for you." He said in a sing-song voice. Al went a deep shade of red; Ed sat up and saw this.

"Ooh, so i take it you feel the same way."

"Shut up brother."

"Ah ha i was right." Al stayed silent. Ed continued to tease Al. Al couldn't take any more of it.

"You can't talk!"

"Huh? What do you mean Al?"

"Oh, nothing..."

"What?"

"Oh, the way YOU ran after Heather when she cried. And you just so happened to be the one to save her from Lust."

"Yeah well-"Al cut him off.

"Annnnnnnd I have the feeling she likes you back."

"Shut up, they might hear you!" They heard a knock on the door, Ed got up and opened it, it was Heather and Britt.

"We thought you might want to read these." Heather said as she handed Ed the documents.

"Thanks." Ed went a little red, but Heather didn't notice, she was too busy looking at the documents, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing as well.

"Where's Bec?" Al asked.

"Uh, she fell asleep." Britt said.

"Already?" both girls nodded. Al looked at Ed and grinned an evil grin.

"Hey Heather, Ed just said that he-" Ed ran over and covered Al's mouth.

"Huh?" Heather said.

"N-never mind." Ed smiled.

"K- Then." Heather was once again confused. (Geez it doesn't take much to confuse this girl!) The girls walked in and sat on a bed.

"Sooooo..." Heather said. "God I'm cold!"

"Same." Britt said "Can you get my jacket?" Heather rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She got up and walked out. She came back a short time later wearing her jacket and threw Britt her jacket.

"Why should I do everything for you anyway?" Heather asked.

"'Caus I'm older." Britt answered.

"Yeah, well, I'm taller."

"ONLY BY A COUPLE OF CENTIMETRES!"

"hahahaha!"

"You are pure evil." Ed said as he laughed.

"'Cause I'm epic like that." Heather smiled.

"What the hell, Heather." Britt said.

"What?"

"Up yourself much?"

"Gee thanks."

"Anytime." Britt said with a grin. Everyone laughed.

"C'mon Heather, we should get to bed now." The girls got up and walked out.

As soon as Heather woke up she got out her note pad and walked into the kitchen and started copying down some information from a document.

"What are you doing researching at this time of morning?" She heard someone say. She looked up and saw Ed standing in the doorway smiling at her. Heather shrugged and smiled back.

"I don't know, 'caus I can." Ed came and sat down next to her.

"There has got to be a better reason than that." Heather sighed.

"I'm scared." She looked down at her notepad. "Scared for my family."

"What do you mean?"

"Scar is after my family, he has been since the war in Ishval."

"Why?"

"Some men in my family volunteered to fight with the military and almost killed some people who were pretty close to Scar." Ed looked at Heather in surprise.

"What?" She said.

"Do you have any friends or family where Scar first hit?"

"A few..." Heather's voice trailed off and her eyes widened in terror. She buried her face in her arms and screamed.

"How could I be so stupid?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I knew all along that Scar was going to target that place first!"Heather looked up at Ed, tears streaming down her face. "But I didn't tell them to get out, it's all my fault."

"No, it's not, you don't know if they're dead or not, there is a chance that they're still alive."

"Come on; let's wake the others up so we can figure out what to do next." He got up and walked to the guest room to wake Al up but, he wasn't there. Heather walked into the living room and woke Bec up and found that Britt wasn't there.

"Heather, do you know where Al is?" Ed asked as he walked into the living room.

"No, I was about to ask you the same thing about Britt" Bec looked at the both of them sleepily

"Britt said she was going to make call to your family." She said.

"She did? I didn't hear her get up."

Britt dialled the number into the payphone and waited as it rang.

"_Hello." _Said a young boy's voice on the other end

"Hi William, its Britt, is your mum there?"

"_Yep, just a second, Mum its Britt, she wants to talk to you." _

"_Hello." _Said a woman's voice on the other end.

"Hi Katrina, it's Britt. I've just called to say that we've found that Scar is on his way towards East City and you need to get out as soon as possible."

"_What?"_

"We are trying to find a way there today but we aren't exactly sure if we'll make it before Scar." Britt heard Heather's little brother in the background.

"_Mum? What's going on? You look scared."_

"_I'll tell you in a minute William."_ Katrina said

"We are about to call the colonel now and we will find out where you can go for now, until then, start packing some clothes and don't go too far from the house."

"_OK, bye."_

"Bye." Britt hung up the phone and turned to Al

"What's wrong?" He said

"Al, I don't know what to do." Tears coming to her eyes. Al stepped forward and hugged Britt.

"It's gonna be OK." He said "Ed and I will help you guys defeat Scar." Britt went red as he said this.

"Uh, um, I should probably call Mustang now." Britt stuttered as she spoke, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing like mad. She quickly turned back to the phone and dialled the number.

"_Mustang."_

"Hi, it's Britt. Just wondering where the hell Heather's family is going to stay until the whole Scar thing is over."

"_Huh?"_

Scar is after our family."

"_...Oh, some of Heather's relatives volunteered in Ishval didn't they?"_

"Oh naaaaaaah..." She said sarcastically. "You of all people should know."

"_Gee thanks."_

"Mmhmm, anyway what do we do?"

"_Well..."_ He took his sweet time thinking. _"I could send someone down but..."_

"BUT WHAT?"

"_But doing that could put a soldier in danger."_

"I don't care who is put in danger or how much danger they're put in just send someone, or send yourself for all I care."Roy grumbled something under his breath over the phone just quiet enough so Britt couldn't understand.

"Oh, what was that?"

"_Look, I know that you and Heather are stressing about this but there is no reason for you to get all pissy at me."_

"You got that from Heather didn't you?"

"_Uuuuuuuh... Shut up, who asked you?"_ Britt rolled her eyes at this.

"Just do what you have to do to get the people in East City to safety before Scar gets to them."

"_Fine."_ Roy Grumbled.

"Thank you." They hung up the phones simultaneously. Britt turned to Al.

"How the hell do you put up with that moron?"

"With great difficulty." Al laughed, Britt smiled. "Come on Britt, let's go back."

"Yeah, I'm starving."

"Gosh, that made you sound so much like brother."

"If you think that made me sound like Ed, you should hear Heather when she's hungry."

Britt and Al walked in the front door and into the kitchen only to find Heather and Ed sitting at the table (eating of course) As soon as they heard Britt walk in the kitchen they looked up and Heather said

"Where did you two go?" Mockery in her voice.

"We went to call your mum and then Mustang." Britt answered

"Mmhmm..."

"Nothing sus."

"Yeah, nothing sus at all considering the fact that you went to a payphone to call them and there is a phone right here."

"I didn't want to wake anyone up."

"Likely story." Britt knew Heather was just being a bitch for the hell of it.

"Where are Bec and Katie?" Britt said (just to get off the subject.)

"They're in the living room, they've already finished eating."

"Someone finished eating before you did? That's strange."

"Same goes for you Ed." Al said.

Heather and Ed looked at each other and shrugged.

"Hey Heather!" Katie yelled from the living room.

"Yeah?"

"Come here!"Heather got up and walked into the living room.

"What?" 

"Look at what I found." Katie held up a photo, Heather looked at it closely. There was a man with an 'X' shaped scar on his forehead standing with a man that resembled her uncle...

"Wait, what!"

"What?" Katie and Bec asked at the same time.

"That looks like my uncle."

"Huh?" Britt snatched the photo out of Heather's hand and looked at it.

"That can't be right."

"But, I don't get it; I thought they hated each other." Heather looked down and started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Al asked.

"For a walk, I need to think about this." She walked out of the room and opened the front door. She looked back into the living room, seeing confused looks on everyone's faces. Heather walked out and closed the door behind her; she walked the streets of Dublith thinking hard but couldn't come to any conclusion.

'_They could have been friends.'_ Heather thought. _'Nah, that can't be it.'_

Britt, Katie, Bec, Ed and Al were thinking the exact same thing.

"Argh! I can't think!" Bec was getting frustrated. "I have to pee."

"Yeah announce it to the world why don't you." Britt laughed.

"Well, I do." Bec got up and left. A short time later she ran back.

"Omagosh!" She yelled.

"What?" Katie said.

"What if they were friends but something happened to make them disagree with each other."

"Like what?" Katie said.

"I don't know maybe something like the war could have affected their friendship." Ed looked up.

"Yeah, Heather's uncle would have been given orders to kill him." Just as Ed said that the front door opened and Heather walked in and heaved a big sigh.

"Have you come up with anything yet?" Ed stood up.

"Actually yes we have." He said.

"You know how your uncle fought in the Ishvalan war." Britt said.

"Yeah?"

"That would have been what made Scar want to kill your family."

Well, that makes sense (that's a first.)"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Dude, nothing has ever made sense. Well, to me anyway." Ed was now the one to be confused.

"Such as?"

"Take the law of equivalent exchange for example: Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Think about it; to make the philosophers stone you have to sacrifice hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people. And that's just one example, there are thousands of things that prove that the law of equivalent exchange is wrong, but people follow it anyway, and this is what doesn't make sense." Katie looked up at Heather.

"How do you know so much about alchemy? I thought you couldn't use it."

"I know people." Suddenly the phone rang. Katie went to answer it and called out from the kitchen

"Heather, Britt! Someone is on the phone for you!" Heather stood up.

"How the hell did anyone know we were here?" Britt shrugged and Heather ran into the kitchen. Katie handed Heather the phone.

"Right Roy, how did you know I was here?" Heather said in a stern voice.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Because you're a stalker."

"I'm just concerned for your safety."

"Mmhmm, sure, believe what you must..."

"What you don't believe me?" Heather rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't believe you." Heather took a deep breath. "Just tell me why you called."

"I need to know what you've found out about Scar."

Meanwhile everyone in the living room was quiet. (That's unusual.)

"Oh my god this is too quiet, why isn't anyone talking?" Bec said. Everyone sort of shrugged. Bec heard Heather was still on the phone, she sounded irritated.

"I wonder who Heather is talking to... I'm gonna go and eavesdrop on the conversation." Britt looked at Bec.

"Uh, Bec, that doesn't sound like something you would do."

"Yeah, well, I'm bored." Bec got up and walked to the kitchen.

"O-kay then." Britt, al and Ed laughed as they heard Heather say

-Sigh- "You are such a moron colonel."

"Wait, she is talking to Mustang?" Ed said "I don't blame her for getting annoyed." Al and Britt laughed.

"How are we supposed to get to East from here?" Heather said into the phone. "Considering the fact that you're stalking Ed, Al, Bec Britt and I."

"Wait, who's Bec?"

"Oh, I thought you knew, you're the one that knows everything I do." Heather said sarcastically. "Anyway, can you do or suggest anything to help us?"

Ed, Al and Britt were having fun listening to Heather pretty much fight with Roy over the phone.

"Wow, Heather has a really short temper." Al said.

"Yup, always has." Britt answered.

"Ed is exactly the same." Just as Al said that they heard Heather almost yell

"Well then get off of your fat, lazy ass and do actually something!" Bec walked into the living room laughing.

"It's so funny when she ends up raging at others."

"'tis." Britt said with a smile. Heather walked into the living room.

"Looks like we're gonna have to think of another way to get to East." Heather sighed. Katie walked into the living room after Heather.

"I could drive you guys most of the way." She said. Heather started to happy dance like a spastic.

"What... the-fuck?" Bec said, she couldn't help but laugh at her.

"What? I'm happy."Heather said.

"O-kay then..."

"What? Am I embarrassing you?"

"Just a little." Britt's jaw dropped out of pure sarcasm.

"Bec, Embarrassed? No..." Heather stopped happy dancing and laughed. She turned to Katie and asked

"So when do we leave?"

"First thing tomorrow." Katie replied.


	4. Through the desert

In the early hours of the morning, while it was still dark, Katie went around the house waking everyone up, she managed to wake the boys, Britt and Heather but Bec was a little more difficult than expected.

"Bec…" Katie whispered. "Time to get up."

"N-no." Bec managed to groan back. "It's 4 in the morning."

"Do you want to at least get to east city before Scar?" Katie helped Bec up and they all got in the car. Ed, Heather, Britt and Al were all squished across the back seat, the girls had already fallen back to sleep whereas Ed and Al were used to getting up that early seeings as they are running around the place in search of the philosophers stone all the time. Bec was in the passenger's seat and had also fallen back asleep.

The girls woke up roughly around 8. Britt looked up and realized she had been asleep bon Al's shoulder the whole time and went a little red; Heather saw this and gave Britt a teasing look. Al looked to the girls and smiled as Ed said

"Did you have a nice sleep?" Heather yawned and said

"Ugh, I'm so uncomfortable." She squirmed a bit. "I want to go back to sleep but I can't." Britt looked to Ed and said

"At least she didn't say she was hungry." Heather grinned.

"Actually, come to think of it I am pretty hungry."

"Oh god no." Bec turned around to face the four in the back seat when she heard this and said

"Same here."

"Ditto." Ed said. Al looked to Ed.

"You're always hungry, Ed." Britt laughed at Al's comment.

"I take it you guys want some breakfast?" Katie said.

"Yep." They all said simultaneously.

"Good, 'caus my bum is going numb from all this driving." They stopped off at a little shop along the way and got out of the car. Ed stretched.

"Oh my gosh, I never realized how cramped it is in there."

"Yeah, my legs hurt from that." Heather said. Bec walked up to them and said

"It's a good thing you two are so small them." Heather death glared Bec.

"I advise you to shut the fuck up before I strangle you."

"Moyashi."

"That's it!" Heather ran up to Bec and almost got her hands around Bec's neck, but was pulled back at the last second. It was Katie.

"Heather, please don't kill her right now." She sighed. Heather struggled to get out of her grasp.

"Yeah, well, she asked for it."

"She is one of your best friends."

"Grr." Britt and Al laughed.

"Geez, you're just as bad as brother." Al said.

"Hey!" Ed yelled. "Don't call me small or-" He was cut off by Al.

"I didn't say anything about your height" He laughed. "It's not my fault that you're 'vertically challenged'."

"Girl's, I think you might want to stand back." The girl's stepped backwards.

"Why?" Al asked.

"Because, I didn't want them to get hurt."

"Huh?"Al was confused. Ed ran up and crash tackled Al. They wrestled on the ground.

"Oh god, they're worse than us." Britt said. Heather and Britt ran and pulled the boys apart. Britt helped AL up and Heather held Ed back.

"Let me at him." Ed said.

"No, I know how you feel and I have to admit I would react exactly the same way, but we have to go." Heather said. Ed got up and brushed himself off.

"You're right, let's just get some food and go."

"Thank you." She looked over to Britt and Al who were already walking into the shop. "It was pretty funny when you crash tackled Al though." Heather and Ed laughed. At that moment Katie walked up to them.

"And what are you two laughing about?" Heather and Ed looked at each other.

"Nothing…" They said. Katie looked at Heather.

"Yeah, that's pretty hard to believe with you Heather; you always have a reason to laugh."

"Shut up."

After breakfast they all piled back into the car.

'"Just another couple of hours until we get to the desert." Katie said.

"Oh great, sand." Heather said. "Which means we can't drive any further then that otherwise we'll get bogged." She rested her head on the back of the seat. "Oh well, we'll just walk."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Britt said dramatically.

"Oh, come on, don't be so lazy."

"But, it's the desert."

"True, but you're coming anyway."

After hours of driving, the reached the desert.

"Well, this is where the road ends." Katie said. The five got out of the car and stared at the huge sand dunes.

"Hopefully we will see you soon." Heather said to Katie. They started towards the desert, waving goodbye to Katie.

"It's getting dark now, should we stop?" Al said. They sat on the dry sand.

"What are we gonna eat?" Heather asked.

"Who knows?" Ed replied. They heard a scream; it was Bec.

"What?" Heather automatically replied.

"Snake." Bec stepped back.

"Oooh, dinner." Ed said as he transmuted his automail arm into a blade and killed the snake. Heather saw it and said

"Wow, that's one huge fucking thing." Britt doubted that it was as big as they made it out to be.

"How the hell is one snake going to feed all of us?" Ed turned around, still holding the snake. Britt's eyes widened. "Whoa…" Ed nodded and grinned, Heather blushed a little, she thought his grin was cute.

"We're going to have to make a fire." Ed said.

"I'll go and find some wood." Heather said.

"I'll come with you." Britt followed her. After Heather and Britt left Bec turned to the boys and said.

"I swear those girls like you." Ed and AL sort of blushed at the thought. Bec saw this. "Nawwwww."

"Shut the fuck up." Ed replied quickly.

"Hey, Heather, do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched?" Britt asked.

"Yeah, I was about to ask you the same thing." The girls spun around to find Ed and Al walking up to them.

"Where is Bec?" Heather asked.

"She decided to stay back." Ed said.

"That doesn't sound like Bec."

"Yeah, wait, where the hell are you supposed to find wood anyway?"

"I don't know."

"Ooh look, a log." Britt said.

"How convenient." Heather said. "A log turns up right when we need one."

"Weird." Al said. Britt picked up the log and the all walked back.

"Where the hell did you find that?" Bec asked wen she saw Britt with the log.

"I found it just lying there." Britt said.

"It looked like an old campsite." Heather pointed out.

"You're way too observant."

"STFU." The boys and Bec laughed.

"Geez, you two are always at each others necks." Ed said. Heather smiled. Al nudged Ed.

Later that night when they were all asleep something was creeping around… or was is someone? Whoever it was accidentally kicked Ed and woke him up.

"Who's there?"

"What's going on brother?" Al said; he was woken up by Ed.

"Someone was just here." Al looked worried. Ed looked at Al. "What's wrong Al?"

"Britt was telling me about how she and Heather thought someone was watching them." Ed was concerned by this.

"What if they're being stalked and I'm not talking about Mustang this time."

"But who would be stalking them?"

"I don't know, but whoever it is must know that they're after Scar." Al looked over to Britt, Bec and Heather who thankfully were still asleep.

"Should we tell the girls?"

"Not right now." Ed said. "I don't want to worry them."

That morning, Heather woke up in a cold sweat.

"What's wrong?" Britt asked.

"The dream I had…" Heather stared off into nothing.

"What was it?"

"Mum and William… Unconscious….. "

"Yeah?"

"Scar was going to kill them… right then and there…" Heather's eyes filled with fear. "… Blood splattered a-across the walls, floor and ceiling." Heather looked at Britt. "All I could do was watch- Then I start falling… Falling into nothing. Just before I hit the ground, I wake up." Britt just stared. "What?"

"I had the same dream." She said. Ed heard all of this, so he walked over and sat next to them.

"Maybe it's a sign that Scar is getting close." He said. Heather felt tears come to her eyes. "Let's go." Ed helped Heather up and they all started walking again.

Heather was beginning to doubt that they were going t get to East in time. She sighed.

"This is useless." She stopped right where she was.

"What do you mean?" Bec asked.

"What do I mean? We are in the middle of the desert, my family is in danger and I can't do anything to help." Ed and Al turned around and Al said.

"Brother and I have walked this desert before." He looked over his shoulder. "It's not as big as it seems. Just keep walking, we're almost there."

"How much further do you think we have t go?"

"See those sand dunes over there?"

"Yeah?"

"Just over those." Heather's face lit up and she did an epic Naruto run over the sand dunes with Britt and Bec closely behind.

"Geez, they're absolute spastics." Ed said. He heard Bec's voice from the distance.

"I know I am! HAHAHA!" Ed and Al laughed and ran after them.

They got over the sand dunes and saw a sight that they've wanted to see for days now, East City.

"YAYS!" Heather said.

"Wow, never thought I'd ever see this place again." Al said.

"Yeah, it's been a while." Ed replied. He turned to Heather and Britt. "So, where's your house?"

"Follow us." Heather said.

**Sorry it's been so long! My laptop died -_-. Anyway, hope you liked it. **


	5. Family and fear

They walked the streets of East City; everyone was hiding in their houses, fearing for their lives. The news about Scar coming to East had somehow leaked. They got to the house they were looking for and Britt opened the door. Heather walked in and saw William in the kitchen (most likely looking for food.)

"Nii-San!" Heather said. William turned around.

"Heather, Britt. What are you two doing home so soon?"

"Gee, thanks, we don't even get a 'hello'." Britt said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah." He said. "Hello." Ed and Al walked in. Who are they?" William asked when he saw them.

"William, this Is Edward and Alphonse Elric. Ed, Al, this is my younger brother. William." Heather said. Ed and Al smiled at William. William sort of smiled back but was more interested in the food that was in the cupboard.

"Anyway, what are you doing home so early?" He asked. Heather looked at William strangely.

"You mean, mum hasn't told you yet?"

"Told me what?"

"Oh my god, you have got to be kidding me."

"What?"

"Have you heard of Scar?" William nodded. "He is after our family, we need to get you and mum out of here before he gets to East." Heather continued to look at her brother. They all heard Katrina in another room, she was on the phone. Who is mum on the phone to?" Heather looked in the direction that her mother's voice was coming from. "She sounds annoyed."

"I don't know, some guy that says that he is a colonel or something." William replied. Heather death glared the floor. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Heather said. William was clueless. "Mustang." Heather muttered under her breath.

Heather sat in her room thinking. She heard a knock at the door. She looked up, it was Bec. Bec came in and sat down next to Heather.

"Yeah?" Heather said.

"What's up?" The look on Heather's face concerned Bec.

"I've been trying to think about what we're going to do when we finally face Scar. But, the thing is I can't think. At all.

"You can't think? Why?"

"All I can think about is-" She stopped herself mid-sentence, knowing that if she said Ed then Bec would tease her about it and never let her live it down. "…Never mind. Where's Britt?"

"With Al somewhere."

"Where?" Heather was curious.

"Probably at East City Military Base."

"They didn't tell you did they?"

"Nope. Where are Ed and William?"

"Outside." Heather looked out of her bedroom window. Ed and William were chasing each other around the backyard. Heather smiled. "William looks like he is having the time of his life." She looked back to Bec. "You know, I am the closest thing to a brother William has ever had, and I'm a girl, how sad is that?" Bec chuckled at this. "And then Britt came. Britt, William and I have always been able to relate." Bec looked up at the roof and grinned.

"And I'm just awesome." She said. Heather laughed.

"You're starting to sound a bit up yourself there."

"Hey, you can't talk."

Britt and Al were supposed to be looking for Scar along the outskirts of the city, it didn't happen. They ended up growing tired and sitting down where they were.

"Hey, Britt." Al said.

"Yeah?" Al grinned.

"Is it true that you like me?" Britt's jaw dropped.

"How did you find ou- I mean, who told you?"

"Well, Bec sort of hinted towards it…"

"How did I guess?"

"So I take it you do like me."

"Well…" Britt's voice trailed off as she turned bright red. She looked to Al who was also starting to go red.

"Where the hell are they?" Heather said.

"It's starting to get dark." Ed said back. William and Katrina heard this and walked into the room.

"Mum, Ed and I are going to go and find Britt and Al."

"OK, just don't get yourself into trouble." Heather rolled her eyes at this.

"Mum, you know I am not the kind to get into trouble… well, with the cops anyway…" They turned and walked out.

They walked the streets looking for Al and Britt. Heather looked to the sky and saw a beautiful array of colours painted across it.

"Oh my gosh, look at the sunset, it's so beautiful."

"Yeah, it is."

"You sound like you know something that I don't." Heather looked at Ed. "Did Bec tell you anything?"

"How do you know it was Bec?... If anything was said at all that is."

"Now that's making it sound sus. Tell me."

"I know you like me." He grinned at Heather.

"Uh, umm." Heather freaked out a bit and her heart skipped a beat.

'_Oh god, he found out.' _"Oh look I found them." Heather walked in the direction of Britt and Al but stopped right in her tracks, her jaw dropped Ed looked at Heather.

"Ah ha, I was right." He noticed that Heather was just standing, staring. "What is it, Heather?"

"Did you hear what Al just said?"

Al blushed a deep shade of red.

Have to tell you something." He said. "I-uh, I really like you." Britt's face lit up and she felt short of breath.

Heather grinned. "I think we should leave."

"Yeah, I think Al and Britt need some time alone." Britt saw Heather and Ed out of the corner of her eye.

"Are you sure you're not just leaving so _you_ two can be alone?" She said. Clearly she had heard what they had said.

"Shut the hell up." Heather answered back. Britt got up and walked over to Ed and Heather.

"So what were you and Ed doing out here?" She asked.

"Looking for you." Heather answered flatly.

"Why just you two? Why didn't Bec come?"

"Well, um…" Heather pondered for an answer. "Mum needed her to help her with dinner…"

"Lies!"

Heather and Ed walked down the street together. Britt and Al stayed behind a little longer.

"Heather, I have something to confess."

"What is it?"

"I like you as well." He slipped his hand into hers and smiled. Heather giggled a little. "I've been wondering, what made you like me in the first place?"

"Well, you're sweet, you're always there for those who need you and you know how it feels to be- um, 'vertically challenged' let's just say." Heather said. "You're the only one that doesn't tease me about my height." Ed smiled, a little angry at the fact that he was short. Heather, also angered by this kicked a rock across the road. It landed in front of a bin; a shadow of someone moved quickly from behind it and then suddenly disappeared. This caught Heather's attention.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"I saw something move, I doubt it could have been an animal."

"What do you mean?" They heard a loud 'bang' and spun around quickly

'_What was that? It sounded like a gun!' _Heather thought. They raced in the direction the sound came from and ran into Al and Britt along they way.

"What was that brother?" Al asked.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound good." Ed ran down the street, still holding Heather's hand with Al and Britt closely behind them. They reached Heather and Britt's house.

"Mustang?" Ed said, surprised at this. Riza had her gun to the air; Mustang had a smirk across his face. Heather and Ed realized what the smirk was about and dropped each others hand. Roy stared at Heather and Britt who weren't happy.

"Why are you here, can't you find someone better to stalk?" Heather whined

"I'm here to get your family." Roy said.

"Oh, I thought you were too lazy to do that so you were going to get someone else to do it." Heather couldn't help but be a bitch to him.

"Everyone else was too busy." Roy complained.

"Why did you decide to scare the shit out of us?" Britt asked Riza.

"Orders from the colonel." Riza explained. Heather glared at Roy.

"And it all comes back to you." She said.

"Heather, can you get your brother?" Katrina said. Heather ran inside.

"William! Get your ass out here!"

"Hang on!" William said. He soon emerged from his bedroom looking quite tired.

"Why are yo so tired today?"

"I haven't been able to sleep lately, I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"Come on, colonel Mustang is waiting to take you to central." They walked outside and William climbed into the car.

"Where are we going to stay until we catch Scar?" Britt asked.

"Military Base." Ed replied. "I'm sure they'll let us stay there for a while."

"Oh, my- god I'm so tired." Heather said as they walked through the doors to the military base.  
"So, where did you and Ed disappear to." Bec teased.

"We went to look for Britt and Al." Heather said. She threw a sarcastic stare at Britt and grinned. Bec sat next to Britt and said.

"Oh, well, what were you and Al doing out there alone?"

"You have such a kinky mind Bec!" Heather said.

"Haha."

Ed and Al (thankfully) weren't within range of hearing this and were asking about staying at the base for a while. Ed strolled back over to the girls and let Al ask.

"Brother, get back here!" Al yelled across the room.

"But, I don't want to." Ed complained. Al rolled his eyes. Bec looked like se was going to say something similar to what she said before. Heather shook her head with a pleading look in her eyes.

'_please, no.'_ Heather thought.

'_Heh heh, managed to scare her.'_ Bec thought.

"I want more food." Ed demanded.

"Again?" Al's jaw dropped. "How much food do you intend to eat, brother?"

"As much as I possibly can." Britt stared at the vegetables that remained on her plate.

"You're gonna get fat." She grinned. Heather, Bec and Al giggled. A soldier walked up to the five and placed glasses of milk in front of them.

"You can't forget the milk with your dinner." He smiled. He knew that Ed didn't like milk. Heather and Britt weren't happy. Al and Bec started to drink the milk happily while Ed, Heather and Britt just sat there, staring at it. Bec and Al looked at them.

"Brother, just drink it." Ed pushed the glass further away from him.

"There is no way anyone is going to get me to drink that stuff, Al." Ed crossed his arms and pouted dramatically. Bec purposely pushed the glasses closer to Britt and Heather. They looked as if the were going to punch her. But didn't, they knew that she would hit back.

"Aw, why aren't you drinking your milk?" She mocked as she grinned. Heather pushed it away.

"Because it tastes like monkey shit." Heather scowled. Ed's face lit up.

"Yes! Someone has the same view on milk!" He looked at Britt who was also pushing it away. "Two people!" Al and Bec sighed.

"How could you not like milk?" Bec asked.

"Quite easily." Britt said. Heather nodded. Ed looked at the milk and then the food left on his plate.

"The milk has now turned me off of my food." He sighed.

"Oh, I hate that." Heather said.

At 3:00 in the morning Heather woke up to the sound of someone tapping on her window. She sat up and looked at her window, no one was there and the tapping had stopped. She looked away and a shadow of a man was cast across the floor.

"What are you doing here? What do you want from me?" She refused to look again. She heard the window open. "Who are you?" She still refused to turn around and look at who it was. She felt a hand come across her mouth. She noticed he was holding a kunai at her. Suddenly the light turned on.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Heather jolted her head up. She saw Ed standing at the door. He ran up and pulled the man away, knocking the kunai out of his hand.

"Go and wake the others up while I keep his distracted!" Ed said. Heather nodded. She ran down the hallway in the direction of her friends, her heart racing.

"Britt! Bec! Al!" She ended up running into them.

"What is it?" Bec asked.

"Follow me and you'll find out."

"Why are you here?" Ed yelled at the man. "Why aren't you answering me?" Ed hit him across the head. "I know you are capable of answering me!" The man remained silent. "Fine, but you know that I'll just beat you to a pulp." The man grinned. Heather burst through the door at that moment.

"Found them."

"What's going on, brother?" Ed ignored Al and continued to punch the man.

"Talk to me!" Every time Ed punched him, he would just grin even more. Ed transmuted his arm and held it to the man's throat.

"Brother! No! That's too far!" Al pulled Ed back.

"Well, what are we going to do?" He death glared the man. "I can't get any answers outta him." Ed got frustrated. Heather walked over and put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him.

"We'll try again in the morning; we'll just lock him in here for the night." She said.

"Where will you sleep?" Britt asked.

"I'll find somewhere else."


	6. Who are you?

All five of them walked back to the room where the mysterious man was left the night before.

"Britt, you know when you said that you feel as if someone was watching us?" Heather said.

"Yeah?" Britt answered.

"I have a feeling that Scar sent more than one person to follow us." Ed looked back at Britt and Heather.

"Don't worry, as long as you're with us we won't let _anyone_ hurt you." He said. Al opened the door.

"He's not there!" He said.

"Huh?" Heather stopped right where she was, her eyes widened with fear. An unreadable expression on her face.

"Are you OK?" Ed said.

"What if he comes again?" Ed put an arm around Heather who was staring off into nothing.

"Don't worry, as I said before: Al and I won't let _anyone_ you or Britt or Bec." Heather looked up and smiled. Britt leaned to Al and said

"That's the first time I've ever seen her smile like that."

"What do you mean?" Al said.

"I've never seen her smile in a depressing situation."

"I know you two are talking about me." Heather said.

"Shut up you." Britt said back. They heard a voice coming from the room that the man was supposed to be in. But, not a man's voice, a girl's voice. Heather looked through the door.

"Who's there?" She said as the hesitantly walked in, still a little shaken from the night before.

"Ah, so you're the ones that I'm supposed to kill…" A figure emerged from the darkness.

"What?" Heather's face went pale.

"What is it Heather?" Ed said when he saw the expression on her face.

"Why do you want to kill us?" Heather said.

"I have orders, and its fun to kill." The girl said.

"Who gave you those orders?" Ed said. The girl pulled out a gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Heather said.

"Why? What could you possibly do to intimidate me?"Ed clapped his hands.

"The bullet will ricochet off of my arm." He said.

"How do you know that, are you sure that the bullet won't just go straight through it?"

"I know because of past experiences and yes, I am sure." Ed grinned. The girl was about to pull the trigger, but she was knocked to the ground.

"Bec?" Heather said, shocked that she actually was able to take the girl by surprise.

"You're welcome." Bec said.

"Get off me!" Heather knelt down beside the girl who had been crash tackled by Bec.

"Who are you?" Heather said. She didn't say anything, she just kept struggling. "Fine, if you're not going to answer me…" She stood up. "Ed, what should we do with her?" She grinned. Ed knew where she was going with this whereas the others were quite confused. He nodded at her.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe… DEATH BY ARMSTRONG!" Heather laughed at this.

"You two can never stay serious about something for more than 20 minutes can you?" Al said.

"I can if I wanted to." Heather said. She looked back at the stranger. "Look, if you tell us what we want to know then we won't turn you over to the authorities… or Armstrong." Ed and Bec chuckled.

"Are you ever going to learn, Heather?" Britt said.

"Nope." Heather seemed proud of herself.

"GET OFF ME!" The girl kept struggling. Bec got up and the girl took her chance to get up and run. She was halfway out the door when Al caught her by the back of the shirt. The girl tried to pull herself out of his grip.

"I'm not letting go." He said.

"Just tell us who sent you to kill us." Said Britt.

"Scar isn't going to be happy if he finds out that I didn't kill you guys." The girl said.

"Scar? Again?" Ed said. "How does he know where we are anyway?" The girl shrugged.

'_Where will I go? What am I going to do to get away from these freaks AND avoid Scar?' _She thought. Ed leaned into Heather's ear.

"What are we going to do with her now? It's not like she's going to say anything else." He whispered.

"Just let her go." Heather said, just loud enough for the girl to hear. Al let go of her shirt, expecting her to run.

"Why aren't you running?" Al asked.

"I just realised, I don't have anywhere to go; Scar will hunt me down and kill me!"

"Why?"

"Scar told me that if I don't succeed this time, he'll kill me."

"This time?"

"He has tried to get me to commit homicide on a number of occasions. Every time, I backed out and ran away but, he ends up finding me and bringing me back anyway." Tear spilled over her eyelids and wet her cheeks. "I don't want to go back there."

"C'mon, let's go find some food." Ed said.

"Geez brother, is that all you care about?" Al rolled his eyes.

"So, what's your name?" Heather asked.

"Chloe." She said.

"Do you have anywhere to go? Family? Friends?"

"No, they're all with Scar." Chloe stared at the floor a she walked. Bec ran to catch up with Chloe and Heather.

"Do you know the whereabouts of Scar at the moment?" She asked. Chloe looked up.

"Yeah, just outside of East."

"He's quicker than I thought." Ed said under his breath. He picked up his pace and walked quickly down the hallway. Al ran after him.

"Brother, where are you going?" He said. Ed disappeared around the corner.

"Where'd he go?" Britt asked Al when she and the other girls caught up.

"Follow me." Al said. He took Britt's hand and ran down the hallway with Heather, Chloe and Bec closely behind. They emerged from the building, running fast down the road.

"Brother!" Al seemed worried.

"Why are you so worried Al?" Bec asked.

"I'm afraid that brother will do something stupid."

"Like what?" Heather asked.

"Like take on Scar on his own."

Ed walked along the road, kicking a rock along as he walked. He knew Scar was somewhere around there, he just didn't know where.

"That bastard, I swear, if he shows his face, I'm gonna punch it in." He mumbled to himself, frustrated at the amount of grief that he is causing Britt and Heather as well as the grief that he had already caused him and Al in the past. Ed picked up a slightly larger rock that was near him and threw it against a wall.

"You can't find me, can you?" Ed gasped when he heard this. He spun around. No one.

"Scar!" He turned around again. "I know you're here!"

"Who are you talking to?" He heard Heather's voice say. He turned around for a third time.

"When'd you get here?" He said with a sweet smile, disappointed yet, relived that it wasn't Scar.

"Just then." She returned the smile.

"How did you know where I was?"

"Al and the others are just around the corner, we followed the sound of you talking to yourself."

"But Scar was just here, I heard him…" Heather's heart skipped a beat when she heard someone's footsteps behind her. To he relief, it was Bec and Chloe.

"Where's Britt and Al?" Heather asked.

"Oh, I thought they were behind us." Chloe said.

Meanwhile Al and Britt were further behind. They stopped walking. Al turned to Britt and held her hands in his.

"What, Al?" She asked, blushing a little.

"Britt, I have to tell you something…" Britt looked at Al as he said this. "I love you Britt, I can't hold it in any longer." Britt couldn't help but blush even more, she was speechless. Al stepped forward and kissed her. She felt as if she melted inside. She returned the kiss. She put her hands on the back of his neck as he pulled her closer to him. A million thoughts rushed through Britt's mind, she didn't want the moment to end, but alas, it did. They heard Ed calling from afar. Al pulled away and looked into Britt's eyes.

"I didn't want it to end either." He said as if he had read her mind. "Come on, brother sounds like he's getting worried." They started to walk in the direction of Ed's voice.

"Oh, there you guys are." Heather said as Al and Britt walked around the corner. Heather didn't bother asking. Ed stood next to Heather and said to Al and Britt.

"Where do you two keep disappearing to?" Britt stayed silent and looked to Al, expecting for him to say something. Al bit his lip.

"Uh, brother that's a conversation for another time." He said.

"What do you mean by that, Al?" Al looked around, not wanting to look his brother in the eye. "Al?"

"Oh, look, I thought I saw something move over there, it might have been Scar. Britt and I will check it out." Al said quickly. He turned and walked away with Britt by his side, hoping that Ed wouldn't get too suspicious.

"Those two have been acting strangely lately, something's up." Ed said to Heather.

"And, it's not like Britt to stay quiet for that long." Heather answered.


	7. I love you

lAfter failing at finding Scar, they all returned to the military base. Ed was not happy.

"What's wrong Ed?" Heather asked.

"We didn't catch Scar. Now that psychopath is running around the place looking for your family. Eventually he is gonna figure out that your family isn't here and come after you."

"Don't worry about me." Heather said with a smile. "You said to me before that as long as I'm with you, I'll be safe and I can trust you on that." Ed smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Heather closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. It seemed like a dream. His breathing, slow and deep. He ran his fingers through her hair. She ignored the stress that had been piled on top of her. Ignored the grief, the confusion, the fact that she wanted to sit in a corner and cry but, most of all, she ignored the feeling that Bec was watching her. But, she didn't care about care about any of that… well, anymore, anyway. Ed once again pushed her hair out of her face.

"It seems I am always pushing your hair out of your face." Ed chuckled.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Ed heard Bec say. Heather didn't realise until she heard Ed gasp. She quickly looked up.

"Ooooh." Bec said teasingly. Ed kept his arms around Heather, mainly to restrain her from trying to strangle Bec again. As much as Heather wanted to run after Bec, she also wanted to stay in Ed's arms, because it was warm, and she was cold. She sighed.

"Yes Bec, I know, 'Oh my gosh, you guys are so cute together!' and whatnot." Heather said.

"How did you know that I would say that?" Bec asked.

"Because it's just you to say something like that."

"True." She turned around and saw Chloe. "Well, I'm going to go and talk to Chloe." She said. She turned on her heel and ran towards Chloe. Ed looked to Heather.

"She always seems to find out when we are together." He said.

"Don't worry; she always has been protective of Britt and I." Heather replied.

"Why?"

"Actually, I don't know."

"Hey, you two! Get your asses over here!" Bec said. Heather and Ed walked over to Bec, Chloe, Britt and Al.

"Yes ma'am, what ever you say." Heather said.

"We're going to the shop to see if we can find a map of Amestris."

"Fine…" Ed and Heather said.

"But, why exactly do we need a map of Amestris?" Heather asked.

"Just 'caus we do." Al raised a brow.

"Are you serious? Is that your only reason?" He said in disbelief.

"Pretty much."

"Fine…" Ed and Heather said again.

They walked in the doors of the small shop and heard someone raging to themselves. Heather started to walk towards the person hidden among the shelves.

"That sounds lik-" She was cut off.

"JESSIE!" Britt yelled. Heather ran to Britt. In front of her was Jessie… Raging at chocolate.

"$1:00 is WAY too overpriced for chocolate!" She stopped raging for a second and looked up. "BRITT! HEATHER!" She ran up and hugged them, almost knocking them over. "Oh my gosh! It's been so long!"

"I know! 6 years is_ too_ long!" Britt said. Jessie stepped back and looked at Ed, Al, Bec and Chloe.

"Who are they?" She asked.

"This is Edward and Alphonse Elric, Bec and Chloe."

"Oh, Hello." She said cheerfully. She walked over and held out her hand. "I'm Jessie." They all took turns shaking her hand. She turned back to face Britt and Heather. "Do you two have any money?"

"Nope." Heather said, inching towards Bec to hide her wallet in her pocket.

"Bitty…" Jessie complained.

"Yes." Britt sighed. "I do have money, what do you want?"

"Buy me this chocolate." She demanded.

"No, you don't need any chocolate."

"But, Bitty…" She whined. Britt tried to ignore the whining. "Bitty." Britt rolled her eyes.

"Fine, here." She handed Jessie some money.

"Yay!" Jessie jumped in the air.

"She is one insane girl." Ed whispered to Al.

"I HEARD THAT!" Jessie yelled. Ed stepped back.

"Please don't hurt me." He said sarcastically.

They all walked back to HQ. Heather and Britt were getting curious about why Jessie decided to turn up after 6 years.

"Why did you come to East?" Britt asked.

"I needed to talk to you two and the Elric's being here makes things a little easier, they probably already know about what I'm going to tell you."

"Go on." Ed said.

"You girls know about when I went back to Aquroya to visit Shikoka couple of months ago."

"Who's Shikoka?" Al asked.

"She is our alchemy trainer. Anyway, I came home only to find out that there is a political fight going on."

"Oh god no." Heather said under her breath "Not again."

"So I came to find you." Jessie continued.

"Where exactly _is_ home?" Ed asked.

"It's just west of Central." Jessie answered.

"It's a small town called Remada." Heather added.

"Is that where you lived before your family moved here?" Al asked.

"Yup."

"Then how do you know Britt?" Al asked Jessie. "I thought she turned up _after_ Heather moved here."

"2 years after I moved here and Britt turned up on our doorstep we went to Aquroya to train under Shikoka . Jessie was also training under Shikoka at the time and that was when they met each other." Heather explained.

"But I thought you couldn't use alchemy." Ed was confused.

"I can't, I went with Britt to keep her company and to see Jessie. When I was there, while Britt and Jessie were training I would help out in a small automail shop."

"Engineering otaku." Bec said. Heather ignored it.

"Are you going to came home and help me?" Jessie said.

"We can't, we're catching Scar." Britt said.

"We can." Ed said.

"What do you mean?" Britt had no idea what Ed was on about.

"We can lure him there. But, we're going to have to go to Central first." He said. "We'll leave tonight."

"Does that mean we're going to have to walk the desert again?" Heather complained.

"Most likely." Al said.

"ARGH!" Heather and Bec said.

They said their goodbyes and walked all night. By the break of day they had reached a train station.

"Finally!" Ed said. As they waited for the train the boys, Bec and Jessie tried their hardest to keep the other 3 girls awake. They boarded the train and awaited their arrival in Central.

"3 hours late." Ed complained.

"Quit your whining." Chloe said.

"Is Heather asleep?" Bec asked. Heather had fallen asleep on Ed's shoulder, whereas Bec was over tired and seemed to be wide awake.

"Yup." Ed said. He gazed at Heather, wanting to fall asleep himself but, knew he couldn't until they got to central. Jessie, Al and Britt had also fallen asleep. Al had put his jacket over Britt before he fell asleep. '_Al and Britt are so cute together.' _ He thought. He looked at the hills that rushed past. '_Just another couple of hours and then I can sleep.'_ The train reached Central later that morning and Ed phoned the colonel.

"_Mustang."_ Said Roy on the other end.

"Send someone to pick us up from Central station." Ed demanded sleepily.

" _Hughes and Hawkeye are on their way."_ That's all Ed wanted to hear. He hung up the phone without another word and dragged himself over to Heather who was just able to stay awake.

"Ed, I'm tired, I need your shoulder again." She said.

"Why my shoulder? Why not the back of the bench you're sitting on?" Ed asked.

"Because your shoulder is comfortable." Ed sat next to Heather. She put her head on Ed's shoulder and began to fall back asleep.

We're here." Maes said in a sing song voice.

"Hallelujah!" Bec said. Ed lightly shook Heather to wake her up.

"Are we there yet?" She mumbled. Ed chuckled.

"Not quite." They all piled into the car.

Riza opened the door to Roy's office.

"Here they are." She said. Ed, Heather, Britt, Al, Bec, Jessie and Chloe all walked in followed by Maes.

"Who the hell are you?" Jessie said. Roy's jaw dropped. Surely with the amount of success he has had she would have heard of him.

"You mean you've never heard of me?"

"Nope."

"Not once?" Jessie nodded.

"That's the colonel." Al whispered to her.

"Oh, you mean the one that Ed, Britt and Heather are always complaining about?" Jessie said loudly, smirking as she spoke.

After explaining everything to Roy they turned and walked out of Roy's office.

"Does this mean he is going to be stalking us as well?" Bec asked.

"Pretty much." Ed replied.

"Brilliant." Jessie sighed.

"How long do we have to stick around before we go to Remada?" Heather asked Ed.

"Only until we can get a train there…. I'm gonna have to scab some money off of Roy also."

"Where do you need a train to?" They heard Maes ask from behind them. They spun around.

"Remada, why?"

"Thought so, there won't be another train there for a day or so. You can all stay with me and my family until then." After he said this he whipped out a picture of a small girl and showed it to Ed and Heather. The others took their chance to run. "Just look at my little Elysia! Isn't she so adorable?" He said.

"Awwww." Heather said.

"Yeah, cute." Ed said. He had lost count of the times that he had seen that picture.

"Why are we running from Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" Britt asked.

"Because when he brings out that photo he spends hours on end fan-girling over it." Al answered.

"I have to see this picture." Jessie said. She turned and attempted to run back but was held back by Bec. Jessie struggled. "I wanna see the picture."

"Don't worry, I guarantee that you will later tonight." Al said.

Late that afternoon, Maes gathered up the teenagers and took them back to his house. He opened the door and rushed in.

"Honey, I'm home!" He said. There was no answer. "She must be out the back with Elysia." He said. "Come with me." They walked through the house following Maes silently. He opened the door leading to the backyard.

"Daddy!" They heard a little girl say.

"Elysia!" Maes picked up his child and hugged her. The little girl looked over his shoulder and saw the teenagers.

"Who are they?" She asked.

"Elysia,this is Bec, Britt, Chloe, Heather and Jessie." Elysia waved at them and spotted Ed and Al standing behind them.

"Ed! Al!" Maes put her down and she ran to the boys and hugged them.

"Hi Elysia!" Al said.

"How have you been?" Ed asked.

"Goooooooood!" She said. "I have something to show you! I have something to show you!" She ran out of the room.

"She is so cute!" Chloe and Jessie said. Gracia walked into the house. They introduced themselves and sat down.

"I see." Maes said. "SO you're trying to lure Scar to Remada."

"Yes." Heather said. Elysia ran back into the room.

"I found it!" She squealed excitedly. She ran over to the 7 teenagers and showed them a drawing of an apple. "I drew it myself." She said proudly.

"My little Elysia is such an artist!" Maes said.

"Come play with me!" She said to the teenagers. They all got up and followed Elysia outside, Jessie fan-girling over her.

"KAWAII!" As they played with Elysia , Maes looked out the window. (A little over protective of her.) He smiled as she laughed and palyed.

'_It would be great to be that age again, no care in the world, no stress, nothing to worry about.'_ He thought.

After dinner Ed and Heather sat out on the front steps.

"Elysia seemed so happy when she noticed you." Heather said. Ed smiled.

"Well, what do we have here Fullmetal; got yourself a girlfriend hmmm?" Said Roy. Heather gasped.

"Mustang." She said. "Stalking me again huh?" Heather glared at Roy.

"What are you doing here?" Ed said, rolling his eyes.

"Maes called me here to discuss the situation even further." He said. "And then I saw you two and couldn't help but intrude." Al and Britt walked outside hand in hand at that moment and saw Roy, Heather and Ed. When Heather saw them, she grinned.

"Ah ha, so I was right." She said.

"Naww so _both_ of the Elric's hit it off with someone." Roy mocked.

"Shut up! Just because you can't even get a girlfriend!" Ed yelled. Maes walked outside and said.

"I heard yelling, I take it Roy's here."

"Hey!" Roy said.

"Just kidding…" Maes and Roy walked inside.

"Aww, you two are so cute!" Britt said to Ed and Heather.

"Funny, we were about to say the same thing about you and Al." Ed said.

"Brother, shut up." Al said.

"NOOOOOOO!" Bec said.

"What?" Jessie asked, a little confused at her over dramatic performance.

"Roy is taller than me…. Whyyyyyyyyy?"

"Why is it such a big deal?" Chloe asked.

"Because." Bec folded her arms across her chest and pouted. "I like being tall."

"Now you know how I feel daily." She heard Britt say.

"Oh, so you 4 finally decided to come back inside." Jessie said.

"Yes." Britt said. "We did."

"Where did the Lieutenant Colonel and Mustang go?" Asked Al.

"Kitchen." Chloe said.

"They're talking about us aren't they?" Heather said.

"Pretty much." Bec replied. Ed walked into the kitchen just as Roy said.

"He's pretty smart for a pipsqueak, he-" Roy was cut off.

"Remember what I said the last time you called me small?" Ed said.

"No, I'm afraid you're going to have to remind me."

"Do you want to keep your head on your shoulders?" Heather heard this and ran to the kitchen to hold him back.

"What's up?" Jessie said as Heather rushed past. They all walked into the kitchen, curious of what was going on. They found Roy laughing and mocking as Ed struggled to fight his way out of Heather's grip to destroy Roy.

"What did Roy do _this_ time?" Bec said.

"You guess." Ed said angrily. Roy continued to mock. Heather let go of Ed.

"Whoops, seems I couldn't hold him back." She grinned evilly.

"You evil, evil little girl."

"Excuse me?" both Ed and Heather chased Roy around the kitchen, enraged by his smart-ass remarks. Maes and the other 5 teenagers evacuated the room. Roy soon after burst out of the kitchen and sat on a lounge, trying to look casual.

"What's going on?" Asked Bec.

"Oh, nothing… I just locked them outside, that's all." He said.

"Oh, ok."

"When are you going to let them in?" Britt asked.

"Later."

Outside, Ed and Heather just sat on the stairs, not knowing what exactly happened.

"I wonder when he's going to let us back in." Heather said.

"Who knows?" Ed replied. They sighed

"What is with that man?" Heather was frustrated.

"He is just too up himself to care." Heather laughed at this. She banged on the door \, demanding to be let in.

"Let me in! It's bloody cold out here!"

"Too bad!" Roy yelled back.

"Let us in you one-track minded freak!" Ed stopped Heather from banging on the door.

"I know another way in." He said. Heather looked confused. Ed clapped his hands together and grinned.

"Never underestimate an alchemist." He said as he placed his hands on the wall. A flash of blue light and a door of metal appeared.

"Ok than." Heather said, she smiled sweetly. Ed opened the door and they both walked in and stood in front of Roy.

"What?" He said. Heather slapped him across the face and stepped back.

"I say no more." She said. She and Ed watched Roy nurse his now bright red cheek.

"Heh heh, nice one!" Bec said

"Ow! That hurt!" Roy yelled.

"Ow, that hurt." Heather mimicked. Ed and Heather sat with everyone else, death glaring Roy as they walked past.

The next morning, somehow Jessie found out about Al and Britt.

"OooOOoo, Bitty's got a boyfriend. " She said in a sing song voice. At that moment Elysia walked in the room and joined in with the teasing. Jessie held Elysia's hands and they jumped around in a circle singing the same sentence over and over again. Bec and Chloe stood next to Britt and giggled.

"How did she find out?" Britt asked. Bec and Chloe shrugged.

"How are we supposed to know, we didn't even know until now." Bec said.

"EDWARD! HEATHER!"

"Oh, she _must_ be angry."Heather said to Ed.

"WHERE ARE YOU TWO?" Britt continued to yell angrily.

"Should we tell her we're in the kitchen?" Ed asked.

"COME OUT HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!" Britt yelled.

"Nope." Heather replied to Ed. Al walked into the kitchen.

"How'd Jessie find out?" He said sternly. Ed and Heather backed away slowly.

"Uh, well, you see..." Heather began. They got to the backdoor. Ed opened it slightly behind him. Al continued to rage at them. Ed looked to Heather as he swung the door open, he grabbed her hand and bolted for it. Al smirked.

"Hey, Britt! They're out here!" He yelled. Britt stood next to Al and just glared at them as they opened the back gate.

"That's right, run while you can." She said.

"What's going on?" Maes said from behind Britt and Al. Britt jumped a little.

"Nothing..." Britt and Al said in sync. Elysia and Jessie burst into the room singing.

"Bitty and Al sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Heather and Ed ran down the street laughing. They stopped and looked behind them.

"She isn't chasing us, is she?" Heather asked.

"I don't think so." Ed replied. They let themselves drop to the ground and caught their breath. Ed rolled onto his side and faced Heather. He opened his mouth to say something but, the words died before they were even spoken. He was speechless. '_How do I tell her I love her?'_ They both sat up. Ed looked to the distance.

"What's up Ed?" Heather asked. He looked back to her, not knowing what to say at all. His eyes said everything though. He leant forward and pressed his lips against hers.

'_Finally, I get some time alone with her and no one has interrupted.'_ He thought. He never would've found the words to say what that one kiss had said. There is only so much that can be spoken. He pulled away.

"I love you too." Heather said. Ed smiled. They both stood up and made their way back to the house, dreading the fact that they were going to get attacked by Al and Britt.

"What is taking them so long?" Bec said as she paced around the room.

"Where did they go anyway?' Chloe asked. She sat on the couch.

"They didn't want to answer to Al or Britt so they made a run for it." Maes said.

"That explains everything." Bec sighed, she wasn't surprised by this at all.

"You do realise that I am going to kill you for telling them." They heard Britt say from outside.

"Yep." Heather replied.

"Why aren't you two running again then?" Maes said as he walked outside to join them. "Oh, and by the way, Ed. Mustang actually wants to be informed of the situation when you leave central." Ed rolled his eyes. "Hey, don't blame me, I'm just delivering the message."

"Fine." Ed said shortly.

"Well, it was good to see you boys again." Gracia said as the teenagers walked out of the front door.

"It was good meeting you girls." Said Maes.

"Come back soon!" Elysia said as she waved goodbye.

"Bye Bye!" Al said, waving back. They all walked to the train station.

"Ugh! I am really getting sick of trains." Britt said.

"So am I." Chloe replied. They boarded the train and made their way to Remada.

"Heather and Ed are awfully quiet." Bec whispered to Al, Britt, Chloe and Jessie. Ed and Heather didn't take any notice, they just stared out the window. There was a loud 'Bang' further down the carriages. Ed and Heather snapped out of their trances and they all rushed through the train


	8. WTF!

"KILL?" The girls said in unison. Ed tried to clap his hands but, the pain was unbearable.

"Brother has been hurt there many times before, why isn't he able to stand the pain now?" Al was worried. All they could do was stand there and watch as Ed took the beating from Envy. "Brother doesn't seem to be concentrating." He said. Ed managed to dodge a few blows and looked to Heather. The pain was stopping him from doing anything, but he wasn't giving up; every time he fell he picked himself up and tried to fight back. The train swayed to the side as it rounded a corner, knocking the exhausted Ed off of his feet, this time Ed was too tired to get back up.

"Heather! Get Ed out of here!" Al yelled as he transmuted a piece of metal into a rod. Britt and Jessie did the same. Heather nodded.

"Bec! Chloe! Come and help me!" The three of them ran over and got Ed to his feet. He used Heather and Bec as support as he stumbled to the door to the next carriage. Chloe opened it and helped Ed through the door. Chloe then sat him down on a seat; Heather sat next to him and rested his head on her lap.

"I know I'm the reason you just let yourself get pushed around by Envy out there, don't let me be the distraction. I know you're a lot stronger than this." Heather smiled weakly and pushed Ed's fringe out of his face.

Al had Envy pinned against a wall of the carriage that was only half standing. He was about to deliver the final blow, then Envy transformed into someone who Ed and Al haven't seen for years, someone that they loved and cared for, someone who they wouldn't even think of hurting in any way. Winry. Al was paralysed.

"Al, What's wrong?" Britt dropped he weapon and ran to Al.

"Winry?" His voice trembled.

"Al?" Britt pulled Al back.

"How could you?" Al said to Envy. "Leave Winry of this!"

"Aww, But it's 3 against 1. It's only fair to fight fire with fire." Envy looked Al in the eye and grinned.

"!" Jessie screamed. She ran past Al and Britt and struck Envy over the head with her metal rod.

"Wow, that would've hurt if I were human." Envy said monotoned. Jessie rolled her eyes.

"Bitty! Now!" Jessie stepped aside as she said this. Britt clapped her hands.

"Epic alchemic manoeuvre!"

"Huh?" Envy raised a brow. He was thrown across the room by a large piece of metal that shot out of the floor just as Britt slammed her hands on it.

"How did you do that? Have you seen the gate as well?" Al said, quite surprised.

"Nope, I wear gloves." Britt grinned. They heard Ed's voice from the next carriage.

"You're a cheater like mustang!"

Heather looked down at Ed.

"You've lost too much blood to be obnoxious." She said in a worried voice.

"I'm going to ask around to see if anyone has bandages or something close to that." Chloe said. Heather nodded.

"I'm fine; Envy just took me by surprise. That's all." Ed said as he tried to sit up. "Ugh!"

"What is it?"

"The room is spinning."

"Just as I thought." Ed laid back down.

"OK, you're right, I've lost too much blood." He said.

"I'm gonna kick Envy's ass for doing that to you." Bec said. She stormed out of the carriage and onto the next.

"Where's Envy?" She said. Al, Brit and Jessie all pointed to a corner. Sitting there was a whimpering palm tree in a mini skirt.

"I swear he'd be perfect for Roy." Bec said.

"How so?" Jessie was confused.

"He wears miniskirts."Jessie chuckled.

"I found some!" Chloe said as she ran through the train. She threw Heather some bandages.

"Where did you find them?" She asked.

"there is a doctor in another carriage."

"Well, why didn't you bring the doctor with you?"

"Calm down, she coming." Heather sighed with relief. Ed slowly sat up and removed his blood stained shirt. Heather felt herself blush. She looked at the wound on his left shoulder; it was gruesome, it looked extremely painful, judging by the look in Ed's eyes, it was. Heather started to bandage him up, she felt him flinch in pain.

"Everybody, I'm here, there's no need to worry." The doctor said.

'_Damn it, yet another tall person.'_ Heather thought. The doctor walked up to Heather.

"I'm Sarah; I heard that there is an injured person this train." Heather nodded and pointed to Ed. His blood was already soaking through the bandages. "You did a good job bandaging his shoulder, I'll have to stitch up the wound when we get to Remada." She said as she observed Ed's shoulder. Al, Britt, Bec and Jessie entered the carriage, Bec stood next to Heather and nudged her.

"What?" Heather asked. Jessie grinned and said

"Oooh, Ed's shirtless, aren't you lucky." Heather slightly pushed her.

"Shut up."

"The nights always seem to go so much slower when you have to sleep on a train." Al said. "Are you asleep yet, brother?"

"Nope." Ed replied, he still sounded like he was in pain. Al was concerned for his brother.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Sore, the pain is just sorta lingering."

"Brother." Al sighed. "You've never let yourself get beaten like that, what happened?"

"I don't know. My mind just went blank. I-I didn't know what was going on for a few seconds." Ed looked out of the window. "You and Britt seem to be getting closer, I have a feeling that the story that Heather and I made up yesterday was in fact true." He said just to get off the subject.

"Brother, it's not your business."

"Mmhmm." Ed had his suspicions about those two.

'_Sometimes I have to wonder what goes on in brother's mind.' _ Al thought, getting a little angry at Ed for making up that story about him and Britt, even though it was true but, Ed didn't know that yet.

The morning light shone through the window. Bec opened her eyes and saw the trees and small houses rush past the window.

'_Oh, I forgot I was on a train, no wonder my back hurts so much.'_

"Have you always been such an early riser?" Bec was startled by the sound of Ed's voice. She looked at Ed, he didn't look like he was in as much pain as the night before. He and Heather and Chloe sat in the seats directly across from her, Britt, Al and Jessie.

"Pretty much." Bec replied. Ed looked down at Heather who was curled up next to him with her head on his lap.

"When you were fighting Scar, Heather was telling me about her family and she mentioned something about a younger sister that towers over her (which isn't really that hard at all.) Anyway, "where is she? How come she wasn't with Heather's mother and brother?"

"Her sister is with her grandparents, I have no idea why though, she never told me."

"Interesting..." Heather woke and looked around then decided to rest her head on the wall next to her and fall back asleep. Ed stood up and reached for his suitcase which was on the shelf above the seats. After 3 attempts, he sat down and crossed his arm out of frustration.

"Moyashi." Bec said while she was chuckling.

"I'M NOT SMALL! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS MUSTANG!" Bec threw her head back in laughter. "The only reason I haven't decapitated you yet is because you're a friend of Heather's."

"What about Britt? I'm her friend too."

"Her too." Bec grinned at this.

"Wow, I'm surprised no one woke up to your rant."

"Well, that's a first."

"Actually, we are awake; the sun is just blinding us." Al said.

"Smart ass." Ed grumbled.

"You can't talk."

"Touché."

Another ling day was spent on the train.

"Fuck you!" Jessie yelled to Britt and Al. "I want to call Russell."

"There'll be a phone at the next station." Said Al. What Jessie said caught Ed's attention.

"Wait." He said. "Do you mean Russell Tringham?"

"Yep." Ed clenched his.

"The 'Imposter'."

"You know him?"

"Sadly."

"What do you have against him?"

"Well, let's see... He poses as me, gets himself arrested, is a year younger than me and is taller than me."

"Honestly Ed, it's not that hard being taller than you." Ed and Jessie death glared each other. "Now, how long until we get to the station."

"Sometime this afternoon." Ed muttered. Jessie jumped with joy.

"YAY! I get to see Russell!"

"He's in Remada?" Heather said. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" As Heather pretended to sob dramatically into Ed's automail shoulder, Ed stroked her hair and Britt rolled on the floor screaming as if it were a horror movie. Jessie threw a 4 year olds tantrum.

"Why do you hate him so much?" She yelled. "You're just jealous of his sexiness!" She pouted and began to make an emo corner.

"Al is sexier than him." Britt said. Al blushed and pulled her close to him.

"Never thought you would say something like that, Britt." Heather was shocked.

"Shut up, Heather, I've changed."

"I don't wanna know."

"You sick fuck."

"Well, that's just me." Heather grinned. Ed hugged her tight.

"Grr, you two being all 'lovey dovey' with Ed and Al makes me miss Russell." Jessie complained.

"Oh, bite your bum Jessie." Said Bec. "Just because you miss Russell doesn't mean a thing. (Eww, gross, Russell...Yuck!)" Jessie glared over at Bec.

"I'll have you know, Russell is a great kisser." Everyone stared at Jessie.

"Ugh!" Chloe said.

"Jessie, if you say that again, i will not only punch you but also Russell in the face."

"Why also Russell?"

"'Caus he's an ugly fuck."

"Well..."She said sarcastically.

"We don't need to know." Chloe said sternly.

"Yeah, Jessie, why did you have to choose Russell? Out of all of the people on this Earth, that's just sick and wrong, girl." Bec said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Well, were outta here..." Britt said. Britt, Al, Chloe, Ed and Heather changed seats; leaving Bec, Jessie and their sick, sick conversation.

"Hey, wait, where are you guys going?" Jessie and Bec both said.

"Somewhere where we can't hear your conversation." Heather said.

Later that afternoon the train finally arrived in Remada.

"Feels so good to stretch my legs!" Heather and Ed both said. Sarah stood in front of them.

"Come with me." She said.

"Where did you guys go?" Jessie said as Ed and Heather walked through the door of Jessie's house later that day.

"Ed had to get his shoulder stitched up _remember._" Heather said.

"You're like his babysitter or something." Chloe said jokingly.

"She's not my babysitter!" Ed replied drowsily.

"Get some rest, brother." Al said, he patted Ed's back as he walked past. Jessie walked out of the front door.

"And where are you going?" Heather said.

"To see-" She stopped herself midsentence and decided that what she was about to say was probably best not said at all, so she lied (sort of.) "Um, I-I'm going to find Fletcher..."

"Fletcher? Why not the other one."

"Why are now refusing to say his name?"

" 'Caus it's an ugly name, just. Like. Him." Jessie wasn't happy.

"Don't worry, Jessie." Chloe said. "She's just agitated from the train ride."

"Russell, I'm back." Jessie yelled out. She walked slowly through the park. Something caught her eye; out of the side of her eye she saw a glint of blonde in the sunlight. "RUSSELL!" She called out, excited to see him again.

"JESSIE!" He stood up and wrapped his arm around her. "You sure took your sweet time in Central. Speaking of Central; where are your friends you're always talking about?"

"I took them back to dad's house, they were pretty tired."

"Wouldn't your dad kill you if he finds out that you're with me?"

"He's at work until later tonight, he won't find out."

"Your father is way too protective of you."

"I know, what he doesn't realize is that I'm old enough to make my own decisions." Russell scoffed.

"You're so childish, how could you be old enough to make your own decisions?" He joked. Jessie's expression turned stormy.

"GET FUCKED!" She said, turning away from him, pouting. He snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Maybe later." She turned around and kissed him on the cheek.

"Behave." They both laughed.

Suddenly there was a loud "EWWWWWWYYYYYY!" Jessie jumped and got into a defensive stance, ready to hide if need be. Out of a bush a head popped up. A cute, little head.

"FLETCHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Jessie yelled, hugging him to death. Russell looked dismayed.

"I didn't get _that_ kind of greeting!" He complained. Jessie turned to him.

"Shut up."

**(Yes, it may sound like a bad romance movie but, it's based on friend's love for Russell Tringham... -_-)**


	9. Bloody Politics!

Al and Britt walked towards the unusually large crowd in the middle of town square.

"What's going on?" Britt asked Al.

"Didn't Jessie say that there was a political fight?" Al replied.

"Oh, yeah...""It'll probably be a protest." Al grabbed Britt's hand and dragged her towards the mass of wrathful people.

"Um, Al? Where are you taking me?"

"...Somewhere..."

"You may want to re-word that..."

"We need to find out what the protest is about."

Ed woke up to the sound of someone walking through the house. He couldn't exactly remember where he was; he was extremely tired when he walked in earlier that day. He thought about it for a while.

'_Oh, that's right, I'm in Remada...'_ He looked around the room that he fell asleep in; it was the lounge room. Heather had curled up beside him and fallen asleep earlier as well. He gazed at her; she looked so peaceful when she was asleep. He smiled. _'If Heather's here, then where is everyone else?'_

Chloe and Bec had decided to explore the place.

"Remada is such a beautiful town." Chloe said as she admired the scenery.

"Yeah." Bec said. Beside the rather cold climate, they loved the place. Bec looked towards town square. "Is that Al and Britt?" They ran towards town square, pushing past some enraged protesters that were just arriving.

"Al! Britt!" Al turned around at the sound of his name being called and spotted Bec and Chloe running towards him. He motioned for them to follow him and Britt. The crowd was roaring.

"What is this protest about anyway?" Chloe asked.

"The way the military treats the Ishvalans. They want the military to step down and let someone who will treat the Ishvalans better run the country." Al said.

"Heather, are you awake?" Ed whispered, in case she wasn't.

"No." Heather said sleepily, yet sarcastically.

"Did you hear someone walking through the house just then?"

"Yeah, who was it?"

"I don't know, that's what I was going to ask you." Heather sat up.

"Who's there?" She said. They heard footsteps again, heading towards the lounge room.

"Who could it be, no one is here except us." Ed said. A small boy appeared in the door way. He had short black hair and only looked about 8 years old, he wore a t-shirt and shorts although it was freezing. He ran up to the couch that Heather and Ed sat on.

"Hello!" He said excitedly. "Pleased to meet you sir, my name is Phillip." He had a British accent. He held his hand out towards Ed.

"I'm Edward Elric and this is Heather." He said.

"Edward Elric?" His face lifted. "I've heard so much about you!"

"Really now..." He was a little shocked at his 'fangirl' attack.

"Um, do you even live here?" Heather said.

"No, he's the next door neighbour." Jessie said as she walked in with Russell by her side. Heather looked from Jessie to Phillip and asked

"How did you get in?"

"The door was unlocked."

"Okay..."

"Phillip, shouldn't you be at _your_ house, won't your parents get worried?" Jessie said rubbing her temples.

"Come on, I'll take you back." Russell said. He kissed Jessie on the cheek softly. "I'll be back in a minute." He and Phillip walked out and Heather asked

"Where's Fletcher?"

"He's with Al, Britt, Bec and Chloe." Jessie replied.

"You two! Stop making eyes at each other and come look at this!" Chloe said.

"What are Britt and Al doing?" Bec said. "Geez, you two, get a room!"

"Bec! Stop twisting my words!"

"You guys are gross!" Fletcher said. Britt and Al made their way over to them. Britt, death glaring Bec as she walked to them.

"What did you want us to look at?" Al asked.

"This..." Chloe said as she handed Al a piece of paper that she picked up off the ground. Britt and Al looked at it, their eyes widened.

"Scar...' Al muttered.

"How do you know it was him?" Britt asked in a shaky voice.

"Look; its blood stained, the way the blood is splattered says it all."

"Well then, if that is here then the body isn't that far." Al turned the piece of paper over and looked at the back of it.

"It's a flyer for automail..." Bec gasped when Al said this.

"What is it, Bec?" Al said.

" Heather said that she was going to visit the owner of that shop.'

"She was still asleep when we left; maybe she hasn't even left yet." Chloe said. They all rushed back to the house.

'_I hope Chloe's right.'_ Bec thought.

They reached the house just before Heather left; Al burst through the door and ran to the lounge room.

"Oh, thank god." He said when he saw Ed, Heather, Russell and Jessie just sitting there with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Why do look so scared, Al?" Ed said. Al held up the blood stained flyer. Heather's jaw hit the floor.

"Where did you find this?" She said, terrified of what his answer might be.

"The middle of Town square." Without a second thought, Heather ran past everyone and out the door.

"Heather, come back!" Britt said.

Heather ran down the road as fast as she could go. The protest had cleared away from Town square by now; they had probably taken it somewhere else. She burst through the door of the small shop. Nothing but deafening silence. She walked slowly towards the door leading to the workshop in the back of the shop. She hesitantly opened it. What she saw was beyond belief. She covered her mouth to try and muffle her screams, she staggered backwards unable to breathe from terror. She ran into someone behind her but, she couldn't take her eyes off of the horrifying sight that she saw. The person took her hand and led her out of the shop and sat her outside. She looked up.

"Mr. Hughes?" He smiled at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Roy sent me; he was going to come himself to help stop Scar but I figured that you, Ed and himself would have too much of a personality clash." He looked to the front door of the shop. "Looks like I came just in time. Where is everyone else?"

"Come with me." Heather picked herself up and with Maes following her walked back to Jessie's house.

"Do you know whoever was in there?" Maes asked. Heather let her head fall into her hands and sobbed.

"He's an old friend of ours; he has known Jessie and I since we were just kids." Jessie's back stiffened.

"You don't mean-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Heather nodding slowly.

"No..." Britt whispered under her breath.

"You know him too?" Maes asked.

'He used to come and visit us in East all the time. He was like an uncle to Heather and I."

"Dave..." Heather said. She stared at the floor.

"Dave? Is that his name?" Maes said. Britt, Jessie and Heather nodded.

"But why him?" Jessie said. "What did he ever do? He has nothing to do with Heather's family or the war."

"It's a trap." Ed said." He knows we're here and now he wants to use us, control our thoughts and actions." Heather tilted her head slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"He's going to try and turn us against each other by killing those we love."

"The stress will finally get to us and one of us will finally crack." Al concluded.

"Exactly."

"Well, what do we do?"

"We wait."

"How much longer, brother?" Al asked. He just stared out of the window, hoping that Scar would be somewhere in sight.

"Depends." Ed looked to Heather. "Maybe he knows that we know and he is too cowardly to face us... Or maybe he's waiting to catch us off guard." Heather looked up at Ed.

"What do we do after we catch him, if we catch him?" She said.

"Yeah, do we leave him or leave it up to the military?" Jessie said.

"It's up to the colonel." Ed replied.

"What do you think would happen?" Bec asked.

"He'd most likely kill on site or put him in front of a firing squad. If not then Roy would probably lock him up."

"Russell, I'm scared." Jessie said, trying to find an excuse to get close to Russell. Heather looked back at the floor. A million questions were swirling around in her head but, she couldn't find the words to ask.


	10. A close encounter

Scar hid in the alleyway plotting his next attack.

"This time they're the ones who shall die." He whispered to himself. He looked at his brother's tattooed arm. "After they're gone; no one will stop me from completing the philosophers' stone."

"How does he kill?" Chloe asked. Ed sat next to Heather and looked at Chloe.

"His right arm is actually his dead brother's arm." He said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Heather said as she stared at the floor.

"He uses it to kill his victims... With alchemy. His main target is the head; he explodes your brains from the inside. The victims are dead within seconds." Ed concluded.

"Charming." Bec said. Heather continued to stare at the floor.

"That must've been how Dave was killed." Ed put his arm around her. Heather didn't react. It started to rain outside.

"Just perfect; the roof's gonna leak now." Jessie said. "Russell, can you help me with the buckets?" Russell rolled his eyes and followed Jessie out of the room.

"I don't trust them." Fletcher said in a sing-song voice.

"Why is Jessie so afraid that the roof is going to leak; it might not rain that hard." Al said.

"Trust me; when it rains here, it pours." Heather said. "This place is known for having flash floods." Jessie's voice rung around the house.

"Dad's home!" They all looked out of the window and saw a slender figure walk toward the front door. He looked sinister in the rain. He reached the front door and stuck his hand in his pocket and rummaged around for the house key. When he got inside he headed straight for the room that Jessie and Russell were in.

"That can't be good." Fletcher said to Al.

"Dad, you're drenched." They heard Jessie say.

"What's he doing here?" The man said.

"And now he's going to start raging at Russell." Fletcher said.

"Sir, i swear, I am only here to help with the leaking roof." Said Russell.

"Well, I'd better step in before Russell gets himself arrested, again." Fletcher said as he walked out of the room."

"I never really liked that Russell." Britt said."

"Same, he's always lying." Ed said. Fletcher walked in between Russell and Ian.

"Fletcher, what are you doing?" Jessie asked.

"Waiting for them to stop fighting and notice me." Fletcher replied.

"Oh, ok." She looked at the fighting boys; all they really were doing was talking over each other. "Dad." She said to get Ian's attention.

"What?" He replied, half listening to Jessie and half talking over Russell. Jessie pointed to Fletcher.

"Oh- Hi Fletcher!" Ian said. Russell fell silent.

'_Fine, I see how it is.'_ He thought.

"So, what are you doing here, Fletcher?" Ian said kindly. While Ian talked to Fletcher, Jessie took Russell by the hand and led him outside.

The rain fell around them, drenching their clothes. It was as if they were standing underneath a waterfall.

"You'd better leave before he calls the cops, or worse." Jessie warned. Russell nodded. He gave Jessie a peck on the cheek and ran the street, keeping in mind that Scar could be anywhere.

_Oh, so that's all I get; a kiss on the cheek.'_ She thought.

Ian walked into the lounge room with Fletcher close behind.

"Um, Jessie, why are there 6 teenagers in the lounge room? I thought you were only bringing Britt and Heather home." He said. Jessie walked in the front door and rolled her eyes. She was a little angry at her father for going off at her boyfriend.

"Because dad, Britt and Heather are after a mass murderer called Scar."

"That doesn't answer my question." Jessie sighed and explained everything that was going on.

"I have a feeling you're pissed at your father for something other than Russell." Al said. Jessie sighed again.

"I swear he is clueless. 'Oh, I didn't know you were bringing Britt and Heather back because of the political fight.' I told you before i left, dad. 'Ok, why didn't you tell me when you got back?'." Jessie rolled her eyes. "Well, fuck you dad."

"It's a good thing he didn't hear that." Heather said.

"Actually, yes i did." They heard Ian say as he walked casually past the lounge room.

"Whoops." Jessie seemed to intend for that to happen. "Where are you going?" She said to Britt as she saw her get up to leave.

"I need to talk to Mr. Hughes." Britt replied.

"Oh yeah, where's he been all this time?" Al asked.

"Talking to his wife."

"Makes sense."

"_When will you be home?"_ Gracia asked. Maes twirled the phone cord between his fingers.

"I'll be home as soon as I can, honey."

"_Daddy I miss you!"_He heard Elysia say in the background. He chuckled a little and smiled at the sound of his daughter's voice.

"I miss you too my little Elysia!" He heard someone knock on the door frame from the lounge room. "Yes?" He turned around.

"Uh, Mr. Hughes, I need to talk to you." Britt said.

"Sure, what about?" Britt had tears in her eyes.

"Dave..." Maes nodded.

"Honey, I'll have to call you back later." He said onto the phone.

"_Ok, love you."_

"Love you." He hung up the phone. "What's up?" A tear rolled down Britt's face. She tried to hold the rest back. "Just let it all out, don't hold it in." Britt still refused to cry so Maes decided to resort to something else. "Al, we need you out here." Al poked his head around the corner.

"What for?" He saw Britt struggling to hold the tears back. "Oh." He wrapped his arm around Britt and whispered into her ear.

"If you don't cry, I'll cry myself." Britt started to laugh. "What?"

"BAKA."

"Huh?"

"Heather has said that to me before and you of all people should know should know that it won't work on me." She said through her laughter.

"Meanie." At this, Maes left the room to give Al and Britt some time alone. Al realized this and took his chance to romance Britt by wrapping his arm around her waist and placing his lips against hers.

Ed grabbed Heather's hand and began to lead her to the front door. They got to the front door and stopped.

"Did I see what I think I just saw?" Ed said quietly to Heather.

"Most likely." Heather said. They turned and saw Al and Britt so caught up in what they were doing that they didn't realize that Heather and Ed were staring at them, completely gobsmacked.

"Um, am I interrupting anything?" Ed said. Al quickly pulled away, almost knocking the phone off its hook.

"How long have you been there?" Al asked.

"Long enough." Ed said in a mortified way. Britt buried her head in Al's shirt, away from the embarrassment.

"Wait, why were you two heading outside?"

"Jessie insisted that we go and get Russell, frankly I don't want to, but she is providing a roof over our heads so i figured that it's the least we could do."

"Didn't she just send him home?"

"Pretty much." Heather said. Ed turned and opened the door but slammed it shut again. His back stiffened and he didn't move from the spot that he was in.

"what is it, brother?" Ed didn't say a word. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "Brother?"

"Ed?" Heather said. She clicked in front of his face to try and snap him out of it. "Ed? Can you hear me?"

"Brother, answer us. What-is-wrong?" Al took him by the shoulders and turned him around to face him.

"S-scar." Ed's voice was filled with terror. Britt and Heather gasped.

"Outside?... NOW?" Britt said. Ed nodded and gripped his left shoulder.

"What am I gonna do? My shoulder is still wounded."

"What is going on out there?" Jessie entered the room. "I can hear mumbling."

"Jessie! Get your dad in a safe place where he won't get hurt." Al said firmly.

"What?" She looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Just do what I say, you'll find out later." Fletcher appeared soon after Jessie went looking around the house for her father.

"What is going on?" He said.

"Fletcher, good, come here, we need everyone's alchemy skills."

"What about Heather?" Britt said. "She can't use alchemy."

"Her engineering abilities will do."

"What is she going to do? Throw around spanners?" Heather's mouth fell open.

"You do realize, I am right here." She said angrily. "And there is a blood thirsty psychopath outside, waiting to kill us." She continued. "So you really shouldn't be worrying about me and my ability to hit morons in the head with a spanner."

Scar grew tired of waiting; he just wanted to kill them... Or at least fatally wound them and leave them for dead. He tried to force the door open, his anger building up inside him with every passing moment. He felt something heavy hit the back of his head. It felt as if it were metal. He spun around and saw a spanner lying on the ground and saw another coming his way. He ducked and let it fly over his head and hit the door. He charged in the direction that the spanners came from. Heather stepped aside and said

"Dude. Never. Hit. A girl. It's not cool." Scar revealed his right arm. Heather stepped back. "Heh, please don't hurt me..."

"Since I can't find your family; you die." Heather continued to inch away as he said this. She saw a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye and took her chance to run for it while Scar was distracted.

Al, Britt, Jessie and Fletcher had transmuted various weapons and started to attack Scar just as Heather ran and sat behind a wall that Ed transmuted. She breathed heavily; she was so scared, she had just come face to face with the man who was capable of wiping out whole towns if he wanted to.

"You look like you've just seen Scar." She heard Ed's comforting voice say.

"Well, yeah; considering the fact that he is right over there and as Britt and Al predicted I threw spanners at his head and pissed him off." She had to admit; as arrogant as that last statement made her sound, she was glad to hear Ed's voice and not terrified screams.

"Ed, Heather!" Chloe screamed as she, Maes and Bec ran towards them. "Watch ou-" They came to a halt and gasped.

Scar placed his hand on the wall and exploded it from the inside out. Although the explosion was suppressed; the wall shattered like it was glass. Ed reacted in a second and crawled over to Heather from where he was sitting and shielded her from the falling debris. He pressed himself into her, whimpering a little in pain as the rocks hit his back. Heather, who was squashed between Ed and the ground, still didn't know what was going on, it all happened so fast. She could hear Scar's footsteps coming closer, the screams of her friends telling them to out of there but, most of all she could hear Ed's whimpering. '_It's hard to see those you love in so much pain.'_ She thought. She heard Scar's footsteps stop. She panicked a little as she figured out what was going to happen. Ed didn't move an inch.

"Why aren't you going to run?" Heather said.

"I don't want you to get hurt." He answered softly.

"Ed, Heather! Get up and run! Now!" Bec yelled. Ed waited until he heard Al and Britt clap their hands. Then he got up, grabbed Heather by the hand and ran.

Al and Britt slammed their hands on the ground. A mass formed above Scar's head and Al and Britt grinned as they watched it fall straight onto Scar's head. (He seemed to get hit on the head quite a lot.) Now that the dazed and not-so-dangerous Scar had fallen to the ground, clutching his head in agony, Jessie and Fletcher quickly drew a simple transmutation circle around him.

"And where exactly are you planning to send him?" Britt asked.

"There is an abandoned mine shaft under this road. We can trap him in there for the time being and wait for the colonel to arrive." Jessie said. That was the smartest thing that had ever come out of her mouth and one of the only things that she had said that didn't turn into something about Russell. Britt, Al, Bec, Fletcher, Maes and Chloe were all absolutely baffled. "What?" Jessie asked. When no one answered she just simply put her hands on the ground next to Fletcher's and watched as a giant hole leading to the underground mine shaft opened beneath Scar. Scar wasn't able to move in time; all he was able to do was brace himself for the pain that was to follow the fall that awaited him.

Ed cut across the park, still thinking that Scar was still coming after them. Heather was pretty much being dragged along.

"Why are we still running?" Heather asked.

"Because Scar could be following us and I'm worried for you because he wants to kill you..." Ed continued to ramble on. Heather realised that he was really worried for her, even more so than usual. Ed continued to list why they had to run so far. Most of them were about protecting her. Heather bit her lip. _'How do I get him to shut up?'_ She stepped forward and kissed him tenderly. Ed was shocked; he never thought that she would shut him up that way. But, he liked it, it was nice. He returned the kiss with more passion than the first time. They both hoped that no one would interrupt them, especially not Al or Britt; if they caught them, they would _never_ live it down. Ed stepped back and looked at Heather who was shivering.

"Are you cold?" HE asked. Heather nodded.

"A little, how are you not cold? You're not even wearing a jacket." She said. Ed shrugged.

"I guess I've gotten used to the cold."

"Lucky. I've lived here most of my life and I was never able to get used to it."

"I guess I'm just special." Heather laughed. They sat on the grass and fell silent. Ed remembered a conversation that he and Britt had had the night before. So, just to break the silence he said

"Britt told me last night that you were extremely ticklish." He grinned. Heather inched away slowly. She knew what he was going to do.

"N-no…" She timidly replied. _'Oh no! He's gonna tickle me.'_ Ed moved closer to her.

"I know you're lying; Al is a better liar than you and that's saying something." Heather continued to inch away. Ed quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his lap.

'_Damn you Britt!'_ Heather thought. Ed began to tickle her ribs. Heather giggled and struggled away.

"I can hear Heather laughing; they can't be far." Bec said to Chloe and Maes. They walked through the park looking for Ed and Heather. The dim lamps were all that illuminated the path.

"It's the middle of the night; of all places why would they run here?" Chloe asked.

"I've known Ed for a while; he said to me that he would take Heather somewhere close to here when Scar attacked. He said that it was safe and away from Scar or something?" Maes answered.

"When Scar is close by, I've noticed that Ed does anything to protect Heather from him, and Al does the same for Britt." Bec said.

"You can tell that they love them."Maes said. He saw two figures in the darkness. "Is that them?" As he walked closer the giggling grew louder. "You two! Scar has been caught!" He made his way towards them.

"Thank god." Heather said. They stood up.

"Now we just have to wait until Roy arrives an-"

"Roy?" Maes nodded. "Great... Now I'm going to have to put up with that moron again."

"Why do you hate him so much?" Ed asked.

"I don't hate him I just dislike him...With a strong passion."

"But isn't that the same thi-" He was cut off.

"Nooo..."

"Heatherrrrrrrrrrr!" Britt yelled as she ran up to Heather and Ed. She wrapped her arms around Heather, almost knocking her over. Once Heather regained her balance Britt whispered to her.

"I see you and Ed are getting quite close there."

"What?" Heather said loudly. "You were spying on us?" This caught Ed's attention.

"When?" Al grabbed the back of Ed's shirt and dragged him away. "Did you spy on us?" Ed asked Al angrily.

"Well, I wouldn't say spied exactly..." Al said.

"What?"

"Well, we couldn't help it, you two are just so cute together!"

"What?"

"Even ask Britt." Al had a smug grin across his face.

"How long did you watch us for?"

"You promise you won't kill me?" Ed sighed.

"Fine."

"Well, let me just start from the beginning. Britt and I originally came to tell you that we managed to capture Scar but, we saw you two kissing and everything from then on." Al began to step away from his enraged brother.

"WHAT!"

"Brother, you promised you wouldn't kill me." Ed tried to compose himself but the anger was clearly present.

"Why did you tell him to tickle me?" Heather asked Britt.

"Because I wanted to see how you reacted."

"You know i won't hit him but I'll hit you."

"Why me?"

"Because you're an idio- Hey!" Heather was being dragged away by Bec. "I was in the middle of raging at her!"

"Well, too bad!" Bec answered. Heather looked to Ed who was also being dragged away. Looks like Maes had stepped in just before the boys ended up in a fight, again. Britt, Al and Chloe followed them back.


	11. Will there be Victory?

Everyone was woken up the next morning by the sound of a car outside of the house.

"That'll most likely be Riza and Mustang." Ed said as he pulled himself up off of the couch. He staggered out to the hallway and stumbled over to the front door and opened it.

"Ah, Fullmetal. Lovely to see you awake this early." Roy said smugly. Ed opened his, mouth to back chat Roy but Heather decided to interrupt.

"That car of yours doesn't sound right. Do you want me to take a look at it?" It was more a statement than anything. She pushed Roy aside. She picked the spanner up off the ground from when she threw it at Scar the night before.

"You didn't pick up your spanner last night?" Ed leant against the door frame, crossed his arms and stared past Roy at Heather.

"I know. I'm so ashamed." Heather said sarcastically. She walked over to the car, the events of the night before after she and Ed had escaped Scar still swirling around in her head.

"WAHH! Who is that strange man at the door?" Britt said.

"You know who I am!" Roy yelled.

"Or does she?" Al stepped from behind Britt.

"Just tell me where Scar is." Roy demanded. Jessie pushed Roy, Riza, Al and Britt out of the way. Ed had already made his way over to Heather who was fixing the car. Jessie directed everyone to the coal mine.

"Here it is." Jessie stopped in front of everyone.

"Which mine shaft is it?" Roy asked.

"The one that says 'danger, keep out.' It's really obvious." Jessie retorted. "Riza, slap the back of his head for me."

"With pleasure." Riza replied. Roy tried to get away before she slapped him but, he was too late. He ended up sitting on the ground, clutching his head feeling sorry for himself.

"What was that for?" He said.

"You drove me insane on the way here so that was just payback." Riza grinned. Jessie progressed toward the mine shaft and began to remove the planks blocking the entrance.

"Bec, I could use some help over here." She said.

"Why me?" Bec answered.

"Because Russell isn't here." Bec groaned and removed the last of the planks.

"Haha! Finished fixing it!" Heather said gleefully. She slammed the hood shut

"You make that look easy. Where did you learn to do stuff like that?" Ed was impressed.

"I've always grown up around cars and engineering." She looked in the general direction of the mine. "We should probably go and help them shouldn't we?"

"Come on, we can probably catch up to them if we leave now." Just as they were about to leave, Ian ran out of the house calling them back.

"You two! Wait! Jessie wanted me to give you this before you left!" He handed them a small envelope.

"Arigato." Heather took the envelope they started to walk toward the mine again. When they got further down the road, Heather opened it and read it aloud.

"Don't forget to pick up Russell."

"What?"

"That's what it says; don't forget to pick up Russell." Ed facepalmed, he didn't like the sound of this.

"Why me?"

"I heard my name mentioned." Russell walked behind them.

"GAH! How did you get there?" Heather said.

"I walked."

"Fair enough." Ed said.

"YES! We're in!" Jessie celebrated.

"That sounded extremely wrong, please re-word that." Britt said. She took Al's hand and they walked into the mine shaft.

"Stop, we have to wait for Russell!"

"What about Ed and Heather?" Bec asked.

"Them too."

"But, we don't know how long it'll take for Heather to fix Roy's piece-of-shit car." Britt said.

"Actually, it didn't take me that long." Heather said. It seemed as though Ed, Heather and Russell appeared out of nowhere.

"Really? It sounded like it was unfixable."

"It looked it too, believe me. But, I fixed it!" Heather struck a pose.

"It's a good thing major Armstrong isn't here." Ed said. Heather ever so slightly tilted her head.

"Why?"

"He would have ripped off his shirt and flexed while saying that something has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations."

"Disturbing." They all walked in to the mine shaft, leaving Maes and Chloe outside. Chloe didn't want to risk letting Scar see her with some of the people he despised most.

The mine shaft had an eerie feeling to it. No one liked it. And knowing that the mine could collapse at any given moment added to that feeling wasn't good. Jessie stayed close to Russell. They ended up drifting behind the group. Jessie finally noticed and said

"Come on, we have to catch up."

"No we don't" Russell grabbed Jessie by the arm. "Stay back here for a while."

"You don't want to fight him do you?" Russell shook his head. Jessie looked at him sternly. He smiled weakly.

Everyone else progressed through the shaft rather quickly.

"He could be anywhere around here." Bec said.

"Oh trust me, he's close." Riza said as she reloaded her gun.

"How can you tell?" Roy picked up a rock and showed it to Bec, Britt and Heather. Ed observed it.

"Signs of alchemy." He said. Roy nodded.

"That doesn't mean anything, it just means that he has been here." Britt said.

"The mine shaft ends just around the corner." Heather said. "Once he reaches there, he'll have nowhere else to go."

"How do you know that?" Roy asked.

"How dare you question my geniusness." Roy raised a brow. "Fiiiiiiiine. Jessie and I used explore this place a lot when we were little."

"Speaking or Jessie, where did she and Russell go?" Britt said.

Jessie was still trying to convince Russell to help everyone fight Scar.

"C'mon don't be such a baby."

"But..." Russell sighed. Jessie stepped closer to Russell, put her hands on his shoulders and shook him.

"Russell, you are never like this. What is wrong with you?" He didn't answer. Jessie put her hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling OK?" Russell took her hand off of his forehead.

"Yes, I'm fine." He kissed her tenderly and ran his fingers through her hair. He pulled away and cupped her left cheek with his hand.

"Jessie, since this is a potentially dangerous situation and we may or may not get through it alive; I just wanted to say now that..." He stumbled through his words, growing more and more worried; (More like paranoid) Scar could be anywhere. Before he finished his sentence he checked behind him, expecting Scar to be behind him.

"Go on." Jessie said.

"I love you." He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Nothing can change that." Jessie pushed him slightly.

"That's so cheesy." She grinned.

The others reached the dead end. Every one's eyes widened; there was a rather large hole where the wall of the mine shaft was supposed to be.

"I think 'rather large' may be an understatement." Ed said.

"Fullmetal, who are you talking to?" Roy raised a brow.

"Uh, I was talking to ..." He looked at the people around him. "...Heather!"

"Huh?" Heather cocked her head up. "What are you saying about me?"

"I was talking to you before, remember?" He looked at her as if to say 'Just play along'. He didn't want the colonel to think he had lost his brains.

"Ummm, kay?"

"Let's get a move on!" Ed said cheerfully. He marched off through the tunnel that was created by the man that they were after. Britt, Al, Heather, Bec, Roy and Riza followed soon after. As they walked further through the tunnel the lamps seemed to get dimmer.

"Well, this isn't good." Roy said.

"Point out the obvious much?" Britt retorted without turning around. Ed and Heather came to a halt. Heather dropped her lamp and began to back away, searching for Ed's hand. In front of her, leaning on the wall was Scar; ready to attack. He ran towards them and placed his hand on the first person he could get to. It was Bec's! Just before he got to use his alchemy, Bec held his wrist with both hands and forced his arm away, kicking him in the shin while he was distracted. They heard a snap from behind them. A flame rushed past Bec, Britt, Al, Ed and Heather and just singed Scar. Riza pointed her gun at Scar's head.

"If you move, I'll shoot!"

"Fine," Scar leant on the wall of rock, placing his hand on it. "You know you're going to regret this though." The wall crumbled like a biscuit, causing the roof to cave in. Rocks and debris fell all over the place. Everyone ran to try and get out of the way of it, but also chasing and cornering Scar. Al and Ed cornered him. Ed transmuted his arm into a blade.

"Fine; just kill me. One of us is going to die here anyway." Scar said. Ed couldn't bring himself to do it. He just stood in front of him, holding his defence. He felt something trickle down his face; it was blood.

'_Must've happened when the roof caved in.'_ He thought. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone rush past him.

"Al?" Bec dragged Ed back, out of the way of everyone. He saw Al drop to his knees and Scar place his hand on his head.

"AL!" Ed couldn't bare to watch. He closed his eyes and waited for it all to be over.

"Ed, what are you doing?"Ed opened his eyes.

"Al? But, I thought..."

"You thought what, brother? That I was dead?" Ed nodded. He looked around the place, everyone was bruised and/or bleeding. Heather sat next to Ed.

"W-wher's Scar?" He said. Heather pointed across the tunnel. "Is he-?"

"No, just unconscious." Roy said. Ed stood up and helped Heather up. Jessie and Russell finally decided to turn up. Bec looked over to them.

"Well, you sure took your sweet time."

Well, excuse me for not wanting to get my ass kicked." Jessie replied.

Although he was fatigued and injured, Ed still had enough energy to hold Heather up and Kiss her.

"I love you." He said. Mustang made his way over to them and held his hand out.

"You did well. Maybe you'll be able to help us with another case someday?" He said. Heather nodded, smiled and shook his hand.

"Maybe." She said. '_Wow, that's the first time we've ever gotten along.'_ Mustang walked away to congratulate the others. Ed looked into Heather's eyes and smiled sweetly.

"How do you and Britt feel about coming to Resembool with Al and I and meeting granny Pinako and Winry?"

"I'm sure Katrina wouldn't mind if we're away a little longer." Britt interrupted. Normally Heather would've gone off at Britt for interrupting like every other time, but this time she just smiled.

They all walked slowly out of the mine shaft, giant smiles across their faces.

"Victory?" Maes asked. Roy looked to the group of battered and bruised people... And Jessie and Russell. And then back to Maes and Chloe and smiled.

"Victory." He said back. They all celebrated, hugged each other, gave each other high-fives, etc. They all headed back to spread the news.


	12. Epilogue

Bec went back to Dublith and ended up becoming good friends with Katie.

Roy, Riza and Maes all went back to Central with mountains of paperwork awaiting them.

Scar was put into prison, serving a life sentence and plotting his escape.

Jessie and Russell went back to Remada. They finally convinced Ian that Russell wasn't such a bad guy.

Chloe returned to East and got a job with the military.

Britt and Heather travelled to Resembool with Ed and Al and stayed there for a while before returning home in East.

"Hey, granny Pinako, Winry, we're home!" Ed said cheerfully.

"And we brought guests!" Al added. A midget-lady walked outside.

"So you finally decided to visit, aye?" She said.

"That's right."

"Oooh, and you seemed to have gotten taller." Ed grinned. Pinako then compared Ed's height to Al's. "No, wait... you've gotten shorter. Keh heh heh."

"I AM NOT A SHRIMP YOU MICROSCOPIC MIDGET!"

"WELL, AT LEAST I DRINK MY MILK SO MY GROWTH WASN'T AS STUNTED AS YOURS!"

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? YOU'RE SHORTER THAN ME!"While Ed and Pinako fought about who's taller than who; Winry walked outside and introduced herself to Heather and Britt and said hello to Al. She turned back to Ed and Pinako who by now had finally run out of short rants to scream at each other.

"So, Ed." Winry said. "Is this your _girlfriend_?" She said in a singsong voice while she pointed to Heather.

"Why do you need to know?" Ed said. Heather blushed a little.

It came to dinner time. Pinako had made her infamous stew.

"This is the only way to get Ed to consume milk." Winry said to Heather.

"How?"

"There's milk in the stew." Ed stopped shovelling his food into his mouth and looked up.

"Don't worry, you can barely taste it." He said to Heather and Britt.

"Oh, so you two don't like milk either; you're just as insane... and sort as Ed!"

"What?" Britt said simultaneously.

"Ha ha, I'm just kidding. Anyway, I'm glad you girls found Ed and Al, they're decent boys." Ed and Al grinned.

After dinner Al, Ed, Britt and Heather sat outside, the cool breeze of winter blowing softly.

"It's a good thing it rarely snows here." Ed said. He took off his jacket and put it around Heather who was shivering. She sat closer to Ed and let him put his arms around her.

Britt and Al didn't take notice; they were more worried about Winry and Pinako watching them. Al was afraid that he'd never live it down, same way Ed and Heather never will be able to live down the fact that Al and Britt caught them together. Al and Britt decided to go someplace else, where they knew Pianko and Winry wouldn't be watching them.

"I have somewhere I wanna show you." Al said. Britt followed Al down a winding path. They came to the top of a hill.

"What are we here for?" Britt asked.

"Look." Al pointed to the distance. "You can see all of Resembool from here."

"This is where I spent most of my time after mum died." Al said. He sat on the ground and looked to the sky. "It was the quietest place I could find; brother never found me here." Britt sat next to him.

"What do you think will happen to Scar? Will he serve his life sentence or will he eventually be put on death row?"

"I don't know. But, don't worry. I made a promise to myself that I would never let anyone hurt you and Ed made the same promise about Heather. I doubt that Scar would be able to break out anytime soon because of the state he was in."

"What are you trying to say, Al?" He kissed Britt and then said.

"I'm saying that we'll always be there no matter what." Britt blushed.

"And you thought I didn't know where you always disappeared to." Ed said. He walked up the hill with Heather by his side.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were back at the house."

"Granny Pinako is wondering where you two are." The four of then walked back to the house. They all knew it wasn't the end for it was just the beginning.


End file.
